Broken
by orgymoogle
Summary: When Sora's mother died, his father started abusing him. Sora doesn't have any friends at school, and is always teased by the other teenagers there. But what happens when the most popular guy in school, Riku, starts talking to him? Soriku friendship only
1. Chapter 1: Making a New Friend

**Disclaimer: I, Sora's Sacrifice, do not own Kingdom Hearts (none of 'em!) or any of the characters or creatures in it. This is just a fanfic! That is all. **

**A/N: Okeydokey then. Ano...yeah. I had an urge to type this, and would have been out sooner, only my internet stopped working. BUT, it's back on now, so yay! Ok, well, enjoy, and please R&R!!**

**Warning: This story contains child abuse. Also, Kairi, Namine and Selphie are going to be brats in this story.**

**--**

_Broken_

_Chapter 1: Making a New Friend_

_"Dad, calm down!" Sora said, taking a step away from his father._

_"Don't you tell me to calm down, do you understand me?" His father asked, his voice harsh and stern. Sora nodded, and before he could say anything, his father yelled._

_"Do you understand me?!" Sora took a half step back, now afraid of his father._

_"Y-yes..." Sora said quietly, nodding slightly. His mother had died just a couple weeks ago, and his father hadn't been himself since. He hadn't actually hurt Sora physically, but he had been a lot meaner and yelled a lot. _

_"I said, 'do you understand me'?!" His father yelled, taking two steps closer to Sora, who now looked very helpless netnd scared._

_"Yes!" Sora said, a little louder this time so his father could hear him. Apparently Sora's father thought he was yelling, and took the back of his hand and slapped it across Sora's face. Sora fell to the floor, that's how hard the hit was, his hand holding his now red cheek. Tears burned Sora's eyes as he looked fearfully up to his father._

_"D-dad?" Sora asked, his throat dry and his voice scratchy. His father walked up to him and kicked him in the side, causing Sora to yelp in pain._

_"Don't you yell at me!" His father yelled, getting ready to kick Sora, again._

_"I-I'm sorry..." Sora whispered, clutching his now sore side after another kick from his father. Tears streamed down Sora's cheeks as he attempted to sit up, feeling the pain in his right side where his father had kicked him hard, twice. Through blurred vision, he could see his father going into the kitchen, probably going to get some drugs. That was another thing. Ever since his mother had died, his father had also been drinking. _

_Sora slowly stood up, wobbling slightly. His hand was still on his red cheek, rubbing it slightly, in an attempt to make it stop hurting. Sora lived in a two-story house, and his room was on the second floor. Sora walked over to the staircase, trying to walk fast, up them, and into his room, in an attempt to get away from his father. After what just happened, and his father now getting drunk, he really didn't want to be around him. _

_Sora sat down on his bed, wishing he had a lock on his door. He sat there for a while, unsure of what he should do. After a while, he heard footsteps coming towards his room. Sora's eyes darted over to the doorknob as it started to jiggle. His heart beat fast, as the door began to open. It seemed as though it was going in slow motion to Sora, though it was really opening quickly. _

_His father stepped into Sora's room, drunk, and his eyes seemed to be searching for something. His drunken gaze finally landed on Sora, who was sitting terrified on his bed, and his brows furrowed. He walked forward, throwing his almost empty bottle aside. Sora flinched slighty as the bottle broke, peices of shattered glass everywhere._

_His father walked closer to him, each step moving slower and slower in Sora's mind. Every second ticked by as though it was an hour, tormenting Sora to no end. His father's larger body hovered over him, as Sora closed his eyes tightly, getting ready for pain. But he would never be ready..._

--

Sora's alarm clock beeped loudly, waking Sora from his slumber. Sora shot up, eyes wide with fear, and looked around his room frantically, expecting his father to be there. Sora sighed in relief when he realized he was the only one in the room.

He reached over and turned off his alarm clock, silence taking over his room. Sora sighed and closed his eyes, opening them again and getting out of bed. He walked over to his small dresser, taking out a pair of clean clothes, exited his room, and headed over to the bathroom. Sora used to have his own bathroom in his room, but his father made him move to a different room, which was downstairs. It was near the kitchen, and the bathroom was just down the hall, which only contained a few rooms.

After taking a shower, and changing into his fresh pair of clothes, he returned to his room, drying his hair with a small, blue towel. He looked at his alarm clock, that was placed on a small table beside his bed, and threw his towel on his bed and grabbed his backpack once he realized what time it was. _Crap! I am gonna be sooo late!_ Sora thought, racing out of his house and hoping he didn't miss the school bus. Yes, even though Sora's father abused him, he still let him go to school. He figured that it would be kind of suspicious for Sora to suddenly stop going to school. Of course, he changed schools, soon after his father started abusing him. He didn't have any friends at his new school, and the other teenagers there weren't exactly nice to him.

Sora cursed himself for being so slow when he figured out he had missed the bus. Sora tried to think of what to do, and after kicking 'asking his dad to drive him to school' off the list, he decided to run. Sora ran as fast as he could to Destiny High, his chocolate brown, spiky locks flying everywhere.

When he finally reached the school, it was about 7:45 a.m., and his school started at 8:00 a.m. and ended at 3:00 p.m.. He had somehow made it there on time, actually a little early. Sora walked through the doors and into Destiny High.

There were crouds of teenagers on either side of the hall, blocking the way of many lockers. Sora looked around and finally found his locker, walking towards it and realizing there were three girls, with other people surrounding them, in front of it. The three girls in th middle were the most popular girls in the school, and were all total brats. They were very mean to Sora, and no one ever tried to stop them when they teased or bullied poor little Sora, and he was too nice to fight back (**A/N: Not actually fight fight.**).

"Um, excuse me..." Sora said quietly, trying to get someone's attention. They were all too busy talking to notice Sora there.

"Excuse me." Sora said a little louder, getting slightly impatient. After no reply still, Sora furrowed his brows slightly and took in a deep breath.

"EXCUSE ME!!" Sora yelled, hands balled into fists at his sides. The crowd of teens looked at Sora, annoyed.

"What do you want, Soreass?" A girl with auburn hair, about shoulder height, asked, crossing her arms across her chest and looking at Sora with digust, the other two girls following suit. Sora gulped, his throat suddenly very dry, and attempted to speak.

"I-I..." Sora said, his voice very hoarse. Sora cleared his throat and spoke again.

"C-could you please m-move?" Sora asked, feeling small, weak and helpless.

"We'll move when we're done, Soreass!" A girl with brown hair that went upwards at the ends spat.

"O-ok. Sorry..." Sora said, backing away from the small group.

"Hmph!" Said the girl with brown hair, sticking her nose up in the air and turning back around to face the rest of the group.

After a while, the school bell rang, signalling it was time for classes to start. The small group that had been keeping Sora from getting to his locker left to go to their classes, going their seperate ways until after class. Sora jumped up from the small bench he had been sitting on, close to his locker, and rushed over to his locker, quickly putting in and taking out the things he needed to.

Once done, Sora slammed his locker shut and raced to class, praying he wouldn't be late. Sora hadn't been in this school for very long, only a couple weeks or so, so he figured the teachers would probably go easy on him for a little while longer, but he didn't want to make a habit of being late. Of course, it wasn't exactly Sora's fault this time, or any other time, except for once, when he accidently woke up late.

--

It was lunch time, and Sora was making his way to a table by a trash can, where he usually sat by himself. He just so happened to be walking past the table that The Three Brats, as Sora liked to call them in his mind, Kairi, Namine and Selphie, were sitting at, and Kairi, the meanest of the group, was sitting on the end. Poor Sora didn't notice her sticking out her leg, and before he knew it, he was face flat on the ground, his blue backpack on top of him.

Sora heared a fit of laughter come from almost the whole cafeteria. Sora stood up, embarrassed looking around to see everyone laughing at him. Sora blushed and hung his head low, slowly walking over to his lone table. Little did Sora know that someone else was playing the same trick on him. Before Sora knew what was happening, he was yet again on the ground. He was tripped twice; he fell for the same thing twice!

More laughter could be heard, and Sora swore he even heard the cafeteria ladies laughing at him. Sora stood up, blushing even more, miserably.

"Haha! He fell for the same thing, twice!" A voice cried out with laughter. Sora looked around, and then rushed out of the cafeteria, away from all the laughter and teasing coming from the cruel teens in his school.

Sora burst through the front doors of Destiny High, searching for somewhere to go. He didn't stop running, he just kept going. He was tired of this. He was tired of being picked on. Ever since he started going to Destiny High, he was picked on. He hated it.

Sora finally reached a small beach near the school. The water was blue and the sand was warm, and there were some palm trees and rocks around the area.

Sora ran to the water, and when he was at the edge of the waves, he fell onto his knees, the tears he was holding back sliding down his cheeks. Sora tried to wipe them away, but they kept coming. _God! Why am I such a baby?!_ Sora thought, still sobbing.

"Crying isn't going to do you any good." A voice said from behind Sora. Sora's eyes widened and, tears still streaming down his face, turned around to see Riku, probably the most popular guy in school, standing behind him, arms crossed across his chest, looking out to the lake. Sora gasped, and the silver haired boy, who was about 1 year older then Sora, looked down at him. Sora looked around and then pointed a questioning finger to himself, looking up at Riku.

"M-me?" Sora asked, unsure if Riku was actually talking to him or not. But he must have been, seeing as how there was no one else around.

"Yeah, you." Riku said, bluntly. Sora looked at Riku, clearly confused as to why Riku was standing behind him, or even acknowledging Sora's existence.

"C'mon, get up." Riku said, looking back out to the ocean. Sora nodded and obeyed Riku, standing up, sniffling.

"So...you wanna head back to the cafeteria?" Riku asked, turning to leave. Sora sighed and shook his head, signalling he meant 'no'. Riku, who was still looking at Sora, even though his back was turned, raised his brows and turned around to face Sora again.

"What? Why not?" Riku asked, crossing his arms again.

"Because..." Sora mumbled, looking down.

"Because why?" Riku asked, growing slightly impatient.

"Because everyone hates me and they'll all make fun of me..." Sora said, a sad expression on his pretty face. Riku smirked and uncrossed his arms.

"They won't tease you if they see you with _me_." Riku said, pointing his thumb to himself. Sora looked up, very much suprised with what Riku just said.

"H-huh?" Sora asked, but Riku was already turning to leave.

"C'mon." Riku chuckled, walking towards the school. It took Sora a moment to get over the shock of what just happened, but he did, and ran after Riku.

--

When Sora and Riku reached the cafeteria, lunch was about half over. When the other teenagers saw Sora with Riku, they weren't sure what to think. Sora followed Riku to a table, consisting of Seifer, Fuu, Rai, some other popular teens at that school, thoughnot as popular as Riku, and The Three Brats, Kairi, Namine and Selphie. Sora hesitated while taking a seat next to Riku, feeling very unsure about this.

When Sora sat down, The Three Brats looked at him with both disgust and confusion, as to why he was sitting at their table. Riku acted as though Sora wasn't even there, eating his lunch and starting a discusion with Seifer, that Seifer started, about who was hotter and why.

Sora was starting to wonder if he should leave. He felt very uncomfortable sitting with them, but no one was teasing him, so maybe it was worth it. And Riku was the one who invited him to sit with them, so if he left, it might make him upset or something, and Sora didn't really want to deal with that.

So, Sora sat there, untalked to, until Riku decided Sora would be the judge.

"Hey, you," Riku said, gesturing to Sora.

"Yeah?" Sora asked, a bad feeling growing in the pit of his stomach.

"Who is hotter? Me, or Seifer?" Riku asked, right to the point.

"Uh..." Sora said, a suprised and kind of scared expression now plastered on his face.

"I don't know," Sora said, not wanting to make either one of the boys mad.

"Why don't you ask a girl?" Sora asked, confused as to why Riku had asked him in the first place.

"I did." Riku said, cracking a smile. Laughter could be heard from that table, as Sora blushed and tried to hide it. When Riku was done laughing, he noticed Sora's misery, and decided he had been through enough already.

"Aw, c'mon. I was just joking." Riku said, patting Sora on the back. Sora managed a very, very, very small smile as he looked at Riku, still very unsure about him.

--

When school was over, Sora was thankful to get out of that dreadful place. Of course, he wasn't thankful for long, when he remembered what awaited him when he got home. Did the whole world hate him? It seemed like that to Sora.

Sora sighed when suddenly he heard footsteps coming up from behind him. The person came closer and closer and closer until...

"Boo." It was Riku, and he was standing behind Sora, who had stopped, with his face beside his ear. Sora turned very sharply, and when realizing it was Riku, his confused face that seemed to keep popping up that day came back.

"R-Riku?" Sora asked, confused yet again.

"The one and only." Riku said, walking forward, expecting Sora to follow, which he did. Riku stopped and waited for Sora to catch up, and when he did, started walking again.

"So...where's your house?" Riku asked, looking at Sora questioningly. Sora gave him yet another confused look, and and Riku shook his head, looking forward and laughing a little.

"M-my house?" Sora asked, still looking at Riku.

"Yeah, y'know, the place you sleep in. Well at least, I hope you sleep in it." Riku teased, smirking. Sora blushed slightly and pointed in the direction of his house.

"Why do you want to know?" Sora asked, the bad feeling returning to his stomach.

"Uh, so I can go to it, maybe?" Riku asked, acting like it was obvious.

"No!" Sora said, stepping in front of Riku, causing him to stop walking.

"No what?" Riku asked, furrowing his brows slightly in confusion.

"You can't go to my house!" Sora said, now looking very panicked.

"Why not?" Riku asked, raising a brow.

"B-because..." Sora started, looking around for some sort of idea. His father told Sora to never bring friends over to their house, and if he did, he knew he was going to get a big punishment, of course, he couldn't tell Riku that.

"Because...?" Riku asked, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Because...because...uh...because my dad is sick and I don't want you to catch anything." Sora said, desperate for a good excuse.

"Then I'll just stay away fom him." Riku said, uncrossing his arms and pushing past Sora. Sora followed him, very much panicked.

"What's your name, anyway?" Riku asked, looking over at a very panicked Sora.

"Uh, Sora." Sora said, trying to think of a way to stop Riku from going to his house.

"Hmm..." Riku said, stopping and waiting for Sora to take him to his house. Sora stopped and looked at Riku questioningly, then he remembered that Riku didn't know the way to his house, so as long as he didn't take him to it, then he wouldn't be punished. Well at least, not for that.

"Um..." Sora said, trying to think of what to do. His father was expecting him home right after school, and if he went somewhere else, then he would be punished. But if he took Riku to his house, he would be punished. Either way he would lose. Sora sighed. He wasn't sure which one was worse. If he didn't go home, then he would keep Riku from going to his house, but then he wouldn't get his work done, and he would be punished, but if he did go home, then he could still get his work done, even though he would take Riku along with him, which might lessen the punishment.

"This way." Sora sighed, turning right. Riku nodded and followed Sora to his house.

When they reached Sora's house, Sora gulped and walked up the steps to the front door, opening it, and walking inside, Riku close behind. When they got inside, Riku started to look around.

"Hmmm..." Riku said, throwing his black school bag down on the floor.

"So this is where you live?" Riku asked, looking over at Sora who was walking down a hall, past the kitchen, and into his room.

"Yep." Sora said, not at all proud of where he lived. Riku followed him into his room, which had blue blankets and pillows, a large window near his bed, a small, navy blue dresser, a small closet, and plain walls.

Riku looked around his room like it was pathetic, which it was compared to Riku's room, and sat down on Sora's bed. Sora put his backpack down and looked at Riku, kind of afraid of what he was going to say next.

"Look, Riku..." Sora started, scratching the back of his neck.

"Yeah?" Riku asked, leaning back on his hands for support.

"If you see my dad, uh..." Sora continued, looking up at Riku.

"Don't-uh...don't--" Sora started, but was cut off by Riku.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry. I won't freak out your dad." Riku said, his eyes searching Sora's room.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that..." Sora mumbled, walking out of his room and heading into the kitchen, where a big mess awaited him. Riku followed, putting his hands in his large pockets.

"Woah! Do you have to clean all that?" Riku asked, eyes widening at the big mess in the kitchen.

"Well, y'know, since my mom is dead, and my dad is working a lot, I do. But I don't mind!" Sora said, smiling sheepishly and dumping something into the trash can.

"You don't?" Riku asked, amazed at how he couldn't mind cleaning.

"Nope!" Sora chirped, trying to be as cheerful as possible about his lie.

"Wait--" Riku said, something that Sora had said registering in his brain.

"Your mom is dead?" Riku asked, tilting his head to the side slightly. Sora looked up from his work and nodded, standing up and walking over to a dirty counter.

"Yeah, she is..." Sora said, looking down at the counter. His eyes were now full of sadness, and a kind of longing. Riku furrowed his brows slightly.

"Sorry..." Riku said, avoiding Sora's gaze. Sora snappped out of his slight daze and smiled at Riku.

"It's ok!" He chirped, turning his attention back to his cleaning afterwards. The front door knob started to jiggle all of a sudden, and Sora froze with fright. It was his dad. Sora was hoping he would be stuck at work until Riku left, but unfortunately, he wasn't.

Riku turned to meet confused and slightly angry, green eyes, staring at him, and then darting towards his son, who was smiling sheepishly.

"Hi, dad..." Sora said, waving a little. Sora's father nodded, and looked to Riku.

"This is Riku." Sora said, gesturing to Riku. Riku smiled a little and nodded. He didn't think that someone as nice and helpless as Sora would have such a stern looking dad.

"Hello, Riku." His words were as sharp as daggers, cutting right through both Sora and Riku. Sora hurriedly continued cleaning, hoping his father would have mercy on him.

"Hi." Riku said, his voice almost as cold as Sora's father's. Sora's father almost snarled, and Sora gritted his teeth together.

"Well, I'm going to go to my room. Don't bother me," Sora's father said, turning to leave the room and go upstairs.

"It was nice meeting you, _Riku_." Sora's father finished, walking up the stairs and into his room. Once he was gone, Riku turned bac to Sora, a confused look plastered on his face.

"Sora," He began, looking at the slightly panicked, spiky headed teen.

"I thought you said your dad was sick?" Riku asked, raising a brow.

"Oh!" Sora said, realization hitting him like a bom; unexpected.

"I guess he, uh...I guess he got better." Sora said, smiling sheepishly and returning to his work.

"Uhuh..." Riku said, giving Sora a suspicious look.

--

After Riku left, and Sora was done with his cleaning, he headed to his room, plopping down on the bed. A little while later, he heard his father coming towards his room. Sora froze, his eyes widening. He should have been expecting this.

Sora's door opened and in stepped his father, an angry look on his face. He slammed the door behind him and walked towards the bed, Sora sitting up as fast as lightening.

"Sora..." Sora's father said, getting closer to Sora with each step he took. Sora looked up at him fearfully, he felt like a small, helpless puppy, with an abusive owner.

Sora closed his eyes tight, getting ready for the worst. But he would never be ready...

--

**A/N: Well? What did you think? Was it good? Hmm? Hmm? Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading! Please stick with me and this story! And please review!**

**P.S. No, this is not Soriku. This doesn't really have a pairing. But hey, who said that a good story has to have a pairing? Oh, and I hope you guys don't mind me making Kairi, Namine and Selphie brats, of course, there wasn't that much of them in this chapter. There might be more in the next chapter, I dunno. Anywho, please review! **

**P.S.S. I wasn't really sure what to name this story. Could you guys please help me think of another name for it? Thanks! Oh, and I need at least 3 reviews for this chapter to continue.**


	2. Chapter 2: A Day at the Beach

**Disclaimer: I, Sora's Sacrifice, do not own Kingdom Hearts (none of 'em!) or any of the characters or creatures in it. This is just a fanfic! That is all. **

**A/N: Well, here it is, the second chapter. Thank you all for your reviews, you guys are so awesome! I mean, I don't think I've ever gotten 7 reviews on one chapter before! Thanks you guys! And now, enjoy (and review) chapter 2!**

**--**

_Broken_

_Chapter 2: A Day at the Beach_

Sora limped to school, very ungrateful for his heavy backpack, the night before, and especially his father. Sora couldn't put into words how much he hated his father. He hated him with all his might. He hated him with hate that was unknown to man. Yet, he still had to put up with him. And the worst part was, he lived _alone_ with his father. No mother, no siblings, no help of any sort.

When he entered the school, he headed straight for his locker. Because of the fresh scars on his arms, Sora was wearing a long sleeved shirt. He was also wearing long pants instead of the baggy shorts he would usually wear.

As expected, when he reached his locker, the Three Brats were in front of it, blabbering on and on about stuff that Sora really didn't care about. Sora sighed deeply, hoping they would just move.

"Um, could you please move?" Sora asked kindly, looking at them with hopeful eyes. All three girls looked at him with disgust, as usual.

"Uh, why should we move, Sore-ass?" Kairi asked, making it sound like it was absurd or something.

"Because, I uh...I need to get to my locker..." Sora answered, gulping. Kairi, Selphie and Namine all looked at Sora like he was pathetic, and both Kairi and Selphie crossed their arms over their chests.

"Like we care." Selphie stated, turning back to her two companions and talking again. Sora sighed and took his usual seat on the bench nearby his locker. He sat there, waiting, and not after too long, a certain silver haired teen took a seat by him.

"Riku?" Sora asked, confused. He still couldn't get over the fact that Riku was actually interacting with him, even though it had been about a week since he and Riku first met.

"Yeah?" Riku asked, slightly annoyed from the fact that whenever he walked over to, sat by, or talked to Sora, he would say 'Riku?', as if the teen had never interacted with him before. Sora stayed silent for a moment and then looked down, feeling Riku's intense gaze landing on him.

"N-nothing..." Sora mumbled, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Riku rolled his eyes and looked forward, then back to Sora with a confused look on his face.

"Why are you just sitting here?" The silver-haired teen asked, furrowing his brows slightly.

"Because...Kairi, Namine and Selphie are in front of my locker again, and they won't move." Sora didn't like being a tattle-tale, but he couldn't help it, if he didn't tell Riku, he would probably just keep on asking about it until Sora told him anyway. Or would he? Sora wasn't sure, but that's what most people would do. Or so he thought.

"Uhuh." Riku said, finding the three girls and narrowing his eyes, then standing up and walking over to them. He started talking to them, and Sora wasn't sure what he had said, but whatever it was had worked, because soon they were out of the way of his locker and Riku was walking over to him, a victorious smile plastered on his face. "Problem solved." He stated, gesturing towards Sora's locker. Sora smiled and hopped up, glad he wouldn't be late for his class for once.

"Thanks!" He exclaimed happily, walking to his locker and opening it.

"No problem." Riku answered, nodding and following Sora.

"So, what did you say to them?" Sora asked curiously, putting books into and taking books out of his locker.

"Words." Riku answered simply, leaning against the locker next to Sora's. Sora stared at him for a moment, but then shrugged it off, closing his locker shut and putting his backpack back on his back.

"Hey! Riku!" Wakka called, running towards Sora and Riku with the usual Blitz Ball being carried under his arm. Riku looked up at him, smiling.

"Sup, Wakka?" Riku asked, standing up straight. Sora stayed silent and watched the two boys. Wakka, a boy Riku's age with very tan skin and orange hair that stuck upwards in an odd fashion, was an awesome Blitz Ball player, probably the best in the school. He often played with his best friend, Tidus, who was Sora's age, and often tried to get Riku to play. However, whenever Riku did play it wasn't for long. He would always get tired of Wakka's special 'moves' and 'techniques' and drop out of the game, claiming he was too tired to play any longer.

"Nothing much," Wakka began in that strong accent of his. "Hey, have you seen Tidus around?" The Blitz Ball-loving teen asked, looking around for said spiky-haired teen.

"No, actually, I haven't." Riku answered, shaking his head slightly. "He's probably busy planning ways to get Selphie to notice him." The silver-haired teen joked, laughing. Wakka laughed along and nodded.

"Ya, probably. Well, if you see him, let me know, ya?" Wakka asked, pointing a finger at Riku.

"Sure thing." Riku answered, nodding slightly.

"Ok. See you later, man!" Wakka said, turning and walking away. Riku just nodded and then looked over at Sora, who felt very out of place. Riku smiled at him, earning Sora's attention. Riku seemed in a daze, and Sora found himself blushing from being stared at by Riku.

"Uh, Riku...?" The spiky-haired teen asked, very unsure of what he was doing. Riku snapped out of it, and acted as though nothing had happened.

"What?" He asked plainly.

"Um, its just..." Sora began, looking at Riku nervously. Those two, aquamarine orbs went right through him, and Sora decided it better not to ask. "Er, nevermind." The fifteen-year-old finished, looking away from Riku. Riku raised a brow but before he could say anything else the school bell rang, signalling that classes were about to start.

"Ugh, stupid bell." Riku complained, looking up at the bell.

"Well, better get to class!" Sora chirped, hurriedly walking to his first class, which was history.

"Seeya." Riku said, turning and walking the opposite way of Sora, waving his hand slightly and then putting both his hands in his overly large pockets.

--

It was lunch time, and once again Sora was eating alone, at the 'loser's table'. And, once again, Riku joined him. It was unusual for Riku to be so nice, especially to someone who was such a lower rank then him, and some of the other teens were getting worried.

Sora always took his own lunch to school, seeing as how he couldn't buy lunch at school because his father never gave him any munny, and Riku always got his lunch at school, because Riku was loaded. He could probably buy Six Flags if he wanted to (not really)!

Sora didn't know about Riku's family or his past or anything, and Riku didn't really know much about Sora's. All he knew was that his mother died and he lived with his father. He didn't know about the abuse or how she died or anything.

While Sora and Riku were eating lunch, Sora noticed, once again, The Three Brats whispering about them, and tried his best to ignore it. Riku, thankfully, broke the awkward silence that had fallen between the two, asking Sora about what he liked to do. Sora was at first kind of shocked by this question, for no one had ever asked him anything like that before, but soon answered saying he liked to sing, play the guitar, eat candy, etc. Riku found out that day that Sora was more talkative then he thought. The little guy could go on and on about anything and everything, and he also found out that Sora was very energetic and to never give him any kind of caffine.

Soon lunch was over and Sora and Riku headed to their seperate classes. Much to Sora's displeasure, they had no classes together. Not even one. So, Sora waited, for many hours, for school to be over.

--

When school did end, however, Sora couldn't find Riku. He searched for him, but couldn't find him anywhere. Sora sighed and headed home, wondering what he was looking forward to anyway, he would still have to go home even if he did find Riku, and if he brought him home again, it would be worse then the night before.

Thoughts started to drift into Sora's mind about possible reasons he couldn't find Riku. Sora grew terrified. Had he said something at lunch that made Riku think he was weird or made him not want to be around him anymore? Was Riku in trouble? Did something terrible happen to him? Was he just using Sora for some reason and was now done with him, never to speak to him again? Sora tried to push away these thoughts, but he couldn't.

Sora arrived home a little while later, tired from the long walk from school to his house. He definately didn't feel like cleaning, and hoped that his father would be stuck at work. Sora took a chance and headed to his room, kind of thankful it was on the bottom floor at that moment, threw his backpack on the floor and plopped down on his bed, exhausted.

He closed his eyes and soon fell into a wonderful dream world. His dreams were the only place he could really go to escape everything. He loved dreaming, it took him to far off adventures and a world without his horrible father. Sometimes he would dream of his mother, he missed her so much. She was the sweetest, nicest, most wonderful person Sora had ever met, and he loved her more then anything.

Although Sora's dreams were usually filled with happiness and excitment, this time it was different. His father was there, and so was his mother, but he wasn't. Or rather, he was, but yet he wasn't. His father looked drunk, and had a knife in his hand, while his mother was fearfully backing up, away from him. They weren't in his house, Sora's wasn't sure where they were.

His father took steps closer to his mother, an evil grin on his face. His mother looked terrified, and though Sora wanted to do something to stop this, he couldn't, he could only watch in horror as his father got closer and closer to his mother. Then, all of a sudden, he stabbed the knife into her chest, most likely stabbing her heart, and she shrieked in pain, falling onto the ground, moments later dead.

Sora shot up from his sleeping position. His eyes were wide and he could feel them burning, with tears blurring his vision. Sora's breathing was heavy, and he could feel sweat dripping down his face. Sora wiped it off and got out of bed, heading to the bathroom down the hall to take a shower.

Once his shower was over, Sora went back to his room, still wrapped in a towel, and got dressed. Suprisingly, and thankfully, Sora's father was yet to return home. Sora was amazed. Usually when he wished for something, like his father being stuck at work, it wouldn't happen, but this time it did. If only it had happened the day before, then Sora could have saved himself a beating.

Even after his nap, Sora was still tired, but he knew he had work to do. He walked out of his room and began to clean whatever it was that was dirty, feeling more like an abused maid then a son. The only thing that really made him and his father related was their blood. Other then that, they had absolutely **nothing** in common. They weren't like father and son at all.

While Sora worked, he thought about his dream. It was so strange, almost like it had really happened. But no, it couldn't have. The police found his mother's dead body along side a stream, and they confirmed she had been stabbed in the chest with some kind of knife--no, it couldn't have been. Had his father really killed her? Was he the culprit? Sora shook those thoughts out of his head and thought about his day. He smiled slightly as an image of Riku popped into his head, the only kid at his school to talk to him or acknowlegde him nicely. Sora finally knew what it felt like to have a--dare he say it-- friend. Were they friends? Sora hoped so. He wasn't sure, he hadn't had a friend for so long, he sorta forgot what it was like. Sora decided he would ask Riku sooner or later, if they were friends or not, and decided to focus on his cleaning for now.

--

When Sora's father got home, he barely even noticed him there. He seemed very tired, and went straight to his room. He didn't come back out until the morning when he had to leave for work. Sora had seen him, and he thought about his dream again. He tried once again to stop thinking about it and get ready for school--for the dream had bothered Sora all night and he barely got any sleep--, but found it was very hard.

Sora rushed out the door, hoping to catch the bus, and actually did. He got on the bus and searched for a seat, preferably one by Riku. But he didn't find him, and ended up getting tripped, again. Sora got up off the dirty floor of the school bus, thinking that walking might have been a better idea, and took a seat in the very back left corner.

Sora was thankful when they finally got to school, yet slightly worried. He couldn't find Riku after school the other day, and Riku wasn't on the bus, either. What if he wasn't in school today? What if something really had happened to him?

Sora rushed into school, as anxious as ever, and a huge grin appeared on his face when he saw a familiar silver-haired teen, standing at his locker. Sora sighed with relief and ran over to Riku.

"Riku!" Sora exclaimed, racing towards the older boy.

"Hey, Sor--" Riku stopped mid-sentance as he felt arms wrap around his waist, pulling him into a tight hug. Riku blushed slightly, though you couldn't tell because his long bangs were in the way, and froze, looking down at Sora with questioning eyes. "Sora, what are you doing?" The very uncomfortable teen asked. Said teen pulled away from Riku, letting go of him, and looked up at him, grinning madly.

"I'm so glad you're ok!" Sora exclaimed, smiling at a very confused Riku.

"Uh, why wouldn't I be ok?" The silver-haired teen asked, raising a brow.

"I couldn't find you after school yesterday, and you weren't on the bus, so I thought something had happened to you!" Sora explained, his happy voice turning into a more concerned, worried and yet relieved voice. Riku just looked at Sora for a moment, and then laughed slightly. Sora frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, wondering what was so funny. "What's so funny?" The spiky-haired teen asked, slightly annoyed. Once Riku stopped laughing, he answered.

"#1. I drive a car to school. #2. I was in detention after school yesterday." Riku explained, proud of himself for driving a car, and not so proud of himself for getting detention.

"Oh..." Sora said, uncrossing his arms and looking down shamefully, thinking of how stupid he must have looked and sounded just now. Riku laughed at Sora's expression and Sora could feel himself blushing. He turned and started for his locker, suprised to find that no one was in front of it. He opened it and stuffed some books into it, taking some other books out. Soon enough, Riku was behind him.

"Boo." Riku whispered in his ear, causing Sora to jump away from him with eyes wide and full of fear, and also causing Riku to laugh again. Sora frowned after realizing it was just Riku, and felt like today was going to be a lousy one. "Sorry." The older teen apologized, smiling.

"It's ok." Sora replied, smiling a little, finding he couldn't stay frowning at the silver-haired teen for long.

"So, wanna go to the beach after school?" Riku asked, leaning against the locker next to Sora's like the day before. Sora gave a very unsure look, a slightly panicked one at that.

"Uh, no! I can't!" The panicked teen answered, maybe a bit too quickly. Riku looked confused.

"Why not?" He asked, raising a brow. Sora noticed that Riku did that a lot, but decided not to think about that right now.

"Uh, b-because! I-uh..." Sora began, trying to think of a better excuse then 'my father will beat me to death'. "Because--" He tried again, still nothing. And then the lamest excuse finally hit him. "Because I don't have a swim suit!" Sora finished, cursing himself inwardly for not thinking of a better excuse. Riku looked at him as if he had just said the most unbelievable thing he had ever heard.

"What?" Riku asked, fully confused at this point, and quite shocked. "You live on Destiny Islands and you don't have a bathing suit?" Riku asked, eyebrows raised, eyes wide. Sora nodded shamefully, and Riku laughed a little, it seemed to Sora he had been doing that a lot today. When Riku was done laughing, he cleared his throat and grinned at Sora. "No problem, we'll stop by the mall on the way there." Riku said, as if it was the most simple solution ever.

"But, Riku," Sora began, looking up to him with pleading, cerulean blue eyes. "I don't have enough munny..." Sora said pathetically. Riku looked at him for a couple of moments, and then spoke again.

"Maybe _you_ don't have enough munny, but that doesn't mean that _I_ don't have enough munny." The rich teen said, crossing his arms over his chest and pointing a thumb to himself. Sora wasn't sure how he was going to get out of this, but he knew he had to somehow. He was about to speak when that blasted school bell started to ring, and students rushed to their classes, some faster then others. "Then," Riku began, looking at the school bell and then back at Sora. "It's decided. We'll meet at the mall after school, at the front doors, kay?" Riku asked, or rather, decided, and headed to his class. Sora didn't have the time to protest before Riku was gone. Sora sighed deeply and went to his class, hoping something would stop him from going to the beach.

--

School ended faster then Sora would have hoped, and soon he was at the mall, with Riku, in a bathing suit store. He wouldn't have come, but c'mon, _Riku_ was expecting him, he couldn't just not show up. So here he was, picking out a bathing suit that he didn't want, and hoping--no, praying--that something would stop him from actually getting _into_ it. Normally he wouldn't mind, but he did now. If he got into a bathing suit, then people were bound to see his scars--and some of them were fresh, mind you--and they might get suspicious. Plus, if he went to the beach instead of going home, he would definately get a beating.

But Riku was persistant, and before Sora knew it, they were at the beach, with two of Riku's other friends, Wakka and Tidus. Sora was wearing his swimming trunks, as were Riku, Wakka and Tidus, and a white T-shirt. Sora's swimming trunks were blue, and had darker blue hawaiian flowers on them, Riku's were black, Wakka's were orange and Tidus' were yellow. Tidus was also wearing his usual small, shirtless vest, Wakka was wearing his usual vest, and Riku was wearing a dark blue T-shirt.

They had only just arrived, and Sora was more nervous then a wild snake being taken away from it's home by some idiotic humans. Riku introduced Sora to Wakka and Tidus, and soon enough, they were getting ready to swim. All the teens, aside from Sora, were taking off their vests and/or T-shirts. Sora wasn't suprised to find out that Riku had a perfect body. Tidus was the first one in the water, and then Wakka. Riku was about to run in, when he noticed Sora just standing on the sand, uncomfortably, with his shirt still on.

"C'mon, Sora!" Riku called, running into the water. Sora nodded and had a sudden great idea: leave his shirt on. Plenty of guys left their shirts on when they went swimming, so why couldn't he? Sora smiled, forgetting about his father, and ran into the water. He hadn't been to the beach for so long, not since his mother died, and it felt so good to be there--with his new friend, Riku, at that.

--

It had been a long day at the beach. The sun was setting, and the four boys sat on the cool, beach sand and watched the sunset, all of them eating Sea-Salt Ice Cream. Sora couldn't remember what Sea-Salt Ice Cream tasted like until that day, and he couldn't get enough of it.

It had been a fun day, but little did Sora know what awaited him when he got home. Finally, it was over, and all four boys were going home, going their seperate ways until school the next morning. Sora wished that day would have never ended, he didn't want the fun to stop, and he definately didn't want to go back home to his father.

Sora tried to keep himself happy, re-thinking the events of that day. They had buried Tidus, made a sand castle that even Riku, the tallest of the group, could stand in, they had plently of splash fights, and finally they sat together and ate Sea-Salt Ice Cream while watching the beautiful sunset.

Sora frowned as he neared his house; he had almost reached his nightmare. When he did get to his house--much to Sora's displeasure--the lights were on inside. He quietly walked up the steps to his front door, and opened it quietly. When he walked in, he found his father on the sofa.

"Hello there, Sora." He said in his icy-cold voice. "I've been waiting for you." He continued, looking at his son with eyes full of hatred. Sora closed the door but didn't go any further into the house. "Where have you been?" His father asked, a frown on his wrinkly face. Sora looked down and mumbled something, obviously his father couldn't understand him. "What was that?" His father's voice was as sharp as daggers, and hit Sora right in the front.

"I...I was..." Sora started, his throat suddenly very dry.

"Yes?" His father asked, growing very impatient.

"I was...at...the...beach..." Sora answered quietly, gulping. Sora's father looked enraged, and before Sora even had the chance to look up, he was banged up against the door, hard. His father was holding him against it by his neck, and his grip was strong and tight. Sora winced in pain as body was mercilessly slamed against the door. He shut his eyes tightly, and then opened them to meet his father's death glare.

"You were at the beach?!" His father asked, anger boiling up inside him like a volcano about to explode. Sora nodded, the best he could with his father holding him up against the door, by the neck. "Why were you at the beach?!" His father demanded, gritted teeth and furrowed brows.

"Because..." The poor boy answered pathetically.

"Because why?!"

"Because...I-I was going to come home, but Riku-" Sora couldn't finished before his father was yelling at him again.

"Riku?! You mean that boy from yesterday?!" Sora's father asked, tightening his grip on Sora's neck. Sora's hands grasped his father's strong arm, trying to get him to loosen his grip.

"Y-yes..." Sora whimpered, realizing now that he had made a huge mistake. Sora's father gritted his teeth in anger and let Sora fall to the floor, making a loud thump. Sora rubbed his now sore neck gently, closing his eyes. His father lifted his leg and kicked Sora hard in the gut. Sora shut his eyes tightly, his hands clutching his stomach.

"From now on you are not aloud near that boy, do you understand me?!" His father yelled, picking him up by his hair. Sora whimpered and kept his eyes shut.

"Yes..." He answered quietly, tears brimming in his beautiful, blue eyes. Sora's father threw him against the wall, causing Sora to wince in pain again. His father then stormed off angrily to his room, slamming the door behind him. It took Sora a while to get up, and he almost fell over when he finally managed to get his feet to listen to him, but he managed to stay standing. He limped to his room as quickly as possible, one hand holding his neck and the other his stomach.

Sora shut his door quietly and carefully, then layed down on his bed. He felt like dying. He didn't want to live with his horrible father anymore (not that he did before). And now he wasn't aloud to see Riku? His only friend? Sora had thought about staying friends with Riku secretly, but he knew that his father had ways of finding out about it.

Well, he survived without Riku before, so he could do it now, even though he didn't want to and it seemed almost impossible. Sora closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep, but couldn't. He ended up staying up all night, his stomach still aching and his neck still sore.

Sora found himself crying quite a few times that night. He thought about Riku, about how he wasn't aloud to see him anymore, about his father and how stupid he was, and about a lot of other things. Before he knew it, it was morning and time to get ready for school. Even though he had only known Riku for a little while, it would still be hard to tell him.

Sora got out of bed and prepared himself for a hard day...

--

**A/N: Aw, poor Sora! I really hate his father...anywho. Did you like it? I hope so! I think its kinda long...is it? Let me know what you think, please! I love reading your reviews, really I do! And I really appreciate them! Oh, and I'll try to update soon!**

**P.S. At least 4 reviews for this chapter, ok guys?**


	3. Chapter 3: I'm Sorry

**Disclaimer: I, Sora's Sacrifice, do not own Kingdom Hearts (none of em'!) or any of the characters or creatures in it. This is just a fanfic! That is all.**

**A/N: Hmm...not so sure about this chapter...I think I liked the other ones better...oh well. I guess it'll do. I hope you guys like it! Well, enjoy! R&R!**

**--**

_Broken_

_Chapter 3: I'm Sorry..._

Sora walked to school instead of taking the bus, cursing the hot weather. He wouldn't have minded it so much, if he wasn't wearing a turtle neck and long pants due to his beating the other night. Sora's heart beat faster with each step he took, getting closer and closer to his school. Closer to Riku. Closer to having to tell him he couldn't be his friend anymore, that he couldn't talk to him anymore or anything.

Sora wouldn't let himself cry over this again, at least not now. It was one of the many things he learned from Riku; crying was a sign of weakness, which made _him_ weak. Ever since Riku told him that, Sora tried not to cry, which turned out to be a lot easier said than done for him. He also learned to never mess with Riku's hair, that Kairi, Naminé and Selphie were all sisters (and that they were only so mean because when they were in first grade they were teased and bullied all the time), and that sea-salt ice cream was a foreign ice cream.

Sora smiled as fond memories of the past week floated into his mind, memories of Riku. And then, there were the not-so-fond memories, all containing his father, which Sora frowned upon. Sora shook his head as he neared the front of the school, teenagers on the stairs, at the top of the stairs, next to the doors, going through the doors and into the school, and some on the railings.

Sora stopped and stood in front of the school, taking a deep breath before walking up the steps and going through the front doors and into Destiny High. He didn't look around, he just headed straight for his locker. He tried to avoid anyone's gaze, especially Riku's. He hadn't seen the older teen so far, though, and he was kinda thankful. He didn't know how he was going to tell him, so he figured the words might just come out when the time came. He heard familiar laughter somewhere behind him, along with an accented laughter, and knew who it was right away. Riku. Well, Riku and Wakka, to be exact.

Sora tried to hurry and get out of there, quickly putting in and taking out books from his locker. He soon heard the laughter die down, and heard Wakka, with his strong accent, say 'See ya, mon!' and figured Riku would be coming his way. Sora's heart started beating fast again as he heard footsteps coming towards him. They got closer and closer, tormenting Sora. It seemed like time was going in slow motion, and Sora wished Riku would just be next to him already. He wished he would just smile at him, with that amazing grin of his. He wanted to feel Riku's skin on his (beta fish says my goodness!), like he had so many times that week, when Riku would be in such a hurry sometimes that he would drag him along. He wished he would just look at him with those two beautiful aquamarine eyes. He didn't want to see pain in those eyes, he didn't want to hurt him. But inside, Sora felt that he would be hurting himself more then Riku.

The footsteps still drew nearer, though they sounded unfamiliar to him. They definately weren't Riku's. They sounded lighter, like, a girl's footsteps, maybe? Sora turned around and met two, beautiful blue eyes surrounded by pale skin and pale blonde hair framing a pretty face.

"Naminé?" Sora asked unsuredly, hoping the petite girl didn't want to pick on him or anything. But her eyes didn't look like they wanted to cause mischeif or pain, they looked...sad, apologetic, something he hadn't seen in her eyes since...ever. Naminé nodded slightly.

"G-gomennasai," she said, her voice as soft as an angel's, bowing slightly. Sora was shocked. Naminé had always been the quieter one, sure, but she still wasn't very nice. What was this all of a sudden?

After Sora got over his shock, he nodded, and smiled at her. "Li desu yo," Sora replied. The girl smiled back, a real smile, not a mocking smile.

"Naminé! Come on!" a female's voice screeched (it sounded like Selphie's). Naminé gasped ever so slightly.

"I'm coming!" she yelled back, her voice still soft, before nodding to Sora one more time and dashing off to her sisters. Sora's smile faded as she left, and he sighed and turned back to his locker, only to see a smug looking Riku next to it, leaning on the other locker, again, and crossing his arms. Sora cursed himself inwardly when he almost screamed in suprise, his cerulean blue eyes wide with fear, schock, and worry.

Riku started laughing and Sora's suprised face was replaced with a sad one. "Looks like Naminé's interested," Riku teased after his laughter had died down. Sora wasn't looking at him, he was looking at the ground, trying to avoid looking into those two beautiful eyes that he had grown to love so much after such a short period of time. Wait--love? Did he really love them? Did he really love Riku's smile? Did he really love Riku's laughter? Did he really love Riku? In only a few moments Sora confirmed in his heart that he did indeed love the older boy (not romantically), of course he would not tell him this, due to fear of being embarassed...again. He didn't really feel like he would be embarrassed if he told him, though. I mean, he would have around any other person, but he felt safe around Riku. Even knowing that he had a father at home who most likely wanted to kill him, he still felt safe with Riku. Riku had been Sora's angel in his time of need, and angels weren't supposed to have to go away...

Riku noticed Sora's sad face and his cheerful smile went away. "Hey, are you okay?" Riku asked, putting a hand on Sora's shoulder, his expression showing slight worry for his friend. Sora refused to look at him and continued with his locker business, the words he expected to come out not wanting to. Riku looked at him in confusion, expecting an answer. "Sora?" he asked, furrowing his brows slightly. Sora shook his head and closed his locker without turning to face Riku. Riku waited for an answer, a reply of some sort, besides the shaking of the head. He received no reply, though, and before Riku could say another word, the school bell rang, and kids hurried to their classes. Sora silently left Riku standing next to his locker, wondering what just happened.

--

After class, Sora hurried to his locker, hoping he wouldn't bump into Riku. Once he was done putting stuff in his locker, he slammed it shut and turned around, getting ready to hide from Riku before the next class started. But when he turned around, Riku was there, staring at him, raising one brow and looking at him suspiciously. Sora gasped and noticed how Riku did that a lot. Seconds later he remembered what he had to tell Riku and his sad face was back.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Riku asked suspiciously, arms crossed. Sora gulped and looked down, sadness filling his pretty, cerulean blue eyes. Riku's expression softened slightly, he didn't want to make Sora feel bad, he just wanted to know what was wrong.

"R-Riku..." Sora began, gulping again.

"Yeah?" Riku asked, impatient as ever.

"I...um..." the spiky-haired teen continued, trying to get it out. "I can't..." Sora tried, but failed again.

"You can't what?" Riku asked, furrowing his brows and wishing Sora would just hurry up and tell him.

"I..." Sora could feel tears welling up in his eyes. Riku seemed to notice this, also, and his expression softened completely. "I can't...talk to you...anymore..." Sora managed, closing his eyes. Riku furrowed his brows in confusion.

"What?" Riku asked, very much confused. At first he thought that Sora might be joking, but he looked too sad to be joking, and Sora wouldn't joke like that. From the short time he had known him, he knew he would never do something like that. Unless he was doing it to save one of his friends or something.

"A-and...and I c-can't b-be friends with y-you anymore..." Sora whispered the last part, a single tear escaping his eye.

"What do you mean?" the older teen asked, horror in those two aquamarine orbs, hidden by his long, silver bangs. Sora couldn't talk without sobbing, so he shook his violently, more tears escaping his sad eyes. He couldn't face Riku, he just couldn't. Before Riku could say anything else, Sora had dashed off down the halls of the school, kids giving him confused looks, and some annoyed ones.

_I'm sorry, Riku..._ Sora thought before falling onto his knees and crying, away from the school, away from his house, away from Riku...

--

Naminé saw Sora running, tears flying behind him. Her eyes saddened and she wondered why he was crying and running off like that. She looked towards the direction that Sora had come running from and saw a confused Riku. But there was some other expression shown on his usual smirking, laughing, teasing, angry, or smiling face. Was that...was that sadness? Naminé could have sworn it was, but she wasn't positive. She figured Riku had probably been the one to upset the young boy, and she wondered why he would do such a thing. It had looked like they were getting along over the past week, so what had gone wrong?

Naminé was too lost in her own thoughts to realize that Kairi and Selphie were talking to her.

"Kairi!" Selphie screeched, finally earning Naminé's attention.

"Huh?" Naminé asked, confused.

"Don't space out like that, Naminé!" Selphie scolded her, hands on hips, an annoyed expression on her face. Naminé looked at them for a moment before coming to realization.

"Oh! Gomennasai!" Naminé apologized. Kairi rolled her eyes towards where Naminé was looking, and when her eyes landed on Riku, she looked infuriated.

"Naminé!" Kairi screeched, causing Naminé to jump slightly. She didn't have the chance to reply before Kairi was yelling at her again. "I can't believe you! And my own twin, too!!" Kairi screamed, earning a lot of attention.

"What?" Naminé asked innocently, thoroughly confused.

"Riku! You were staring at him!" Kairi stated, causing Selphie to become furious with the innocent blonde as well.

"N-no I wasn't!" Naminé protested, the teenagers who were listening thinking it was getting more and more interesting.

"Yes, you were! We saw you doing it! So just admit it!!" Kairi demanded, hands on hips.

"No I wasn't--"

"Riku is **mine**. Stay away from him, Naminé!!" Kairi interrupted, and with that Kairi and Selphie marched away angrily, bombarding Riku in his confused state, which wasn't such a good thing. Of course, it was never really a good thing, now was it?

Naminé sighed sadly and gave Riku a sympathetic look before heading to her next class.

--

**A/N: Well...yeah. Sad? I hope it was sad...it was supposed to be sad...and if it wasn't sad, then I would be sad, because I would have failed at making it sad...anywho. I think this chapter is a little short...sorry. Thanks to everyone who is reading this, and to everyone who has reviewed the last two chapters, and to everyone who is going to review this chapter! Please do review, it makes me want to type, and that means the next chapter would be out sooner, and that would make you guys happy...right? Well, thanks again for reading, please review!**

**I'm not sure if I'm going to use Kairi, Naminé and Selphie very much in the future chapters...as for this one, I'm not sure, I just kinda...decided to include them. And I'm sorry if any Kairi or Selphie fans are reading this and are mad at me for making Naminé nice and not Kairi and/or Selphie. It's just...well, Naminé is my favorite KH girl, so I couldn't help but make her nice. Besides, I saw it most fit to make her the one who changes.**

**Oh yeah, I used some Japanese in this chapter, I hope you guys don't mind. I'll probably use some more Japanese in future chappies, so be ready for that. But don't worry, I'll always tell you what the words I used mean after the chapter is over...or maybe I'll decide to put them in () after what they said...I dunno. But for now, here are the translations for this chappie:**

**Gomennasai - I'm sorry**

**Li desu yo - (It's) okay**

**Yeah...those aren't like...EXACTLY right translations, but it's the basic idea of what they mean, so...yeah. Well, I should stop talking now. Please review and stick with me through the whole story!**

**P.S. Thanks to my wonderful beta, **_**flurry of dying flames**_**! (beta fish says she'll make sure the Japanese used is correct. Even with the simple phrases she used in this chapter, nee-chan got them all wrong.)**


	4. Chapter 4: Getting Ready for School

**Disclaimer: I, Sora's Sacrifice, do not own Kingdom Hearts (none of em'!) or any of the characters or creatures in it. This is just a fanfic! That is all.**

**A/N: Ok, I'm starting this chapter out a little differently. It starts out with Riku, getting ready for school, and then switches to Sora getting ready for school. Just thought I'd tell you so you don't get confused. Enjoy! And please...review, review, review!**

**P.S. Thank you all for all of your reviews on the last 3 chapters! I wuv you all! -hugs everyone reading this-**

**--**

_Broken_

_Chapter 4: Getting Ready For School_

Light leaked through the blinds and into Riku's room. He moaned and rolled over, stuffing his face into his pillow. He didn't want to wake up. He didn't want to go to school. He didn't want to see Sora. He just wanted to sleep. His alarm went off moments later, annoying the silver-haired teen even more. He reached out his hand and searched for the beeping alarm clock, eager to shut it up. He finally found it and smashed it with his hand continuously, waiting for it to stop beeping. After hitting it about 8 times, it finally shut off.

Riku moaned again and turned over so that he was laying on his back. He opened his eyes slowly and stared up at the white ceiling. The light kinda bothered his eyes at first, but he got used to it. Sighing, he sat up and scratched his head, his long silver locks moving at his touch.

Riku stood up lazily, yawning and stretching, almost falling over while doing so. He walked over to his bathroom (yes, Riku has a bathroom in his room) and looked in the mirror, frowning at what he saw. His reflection stared back at him; messy, silver hair, droopy eyes, a lazy and tired expression on his face, black pajama pants and a bare chest. Riku rubbed his eyes to get his vision more focused. He looked at himself again and still frowned. Sighing again, he closed his bathroom door and took a shower. When Riku was done taking a shower (also having washed his hair), he got dressed in his usual outfit, and then headed back into the bathroom, still drying his hair.

Riku continued to frown and looked down at his sink, his gaze then drifting over to a black comb that sat on the marble counter. A lot of things in Riku's room were black, some being different shades of blue, mostly darker blues. Riku reached for the comb and picked it up, lifting it to his hair and combing through it with ease. Riku's thoughts started to wander as he brushed his hair (that he loved a little too much). He started thinking about Sora and what had happened the other day.

_What was all that about?_ Riku wondered, furrowing his brows in confusion. Sora's words kept running through his head, over and over again. His pretty face covered in tears. His beautiful cerulean eyes filled with sadness. Riku stopped combing his hair and looked down at the sink thoughtfully. _I wonder what happened...did I do something to upset him? Does he hate me? No, he can't hate me, I'm Riku. No one hates me._ Riku was the most popular kid in school, after all, of course he was going to think like that. Riku had his pride, that's one thing that would never betray him and say he couldn't talk to Sora or be his friend anymore. Riku sighed deeply, for the third time that morning, and finished combing his hair.

He threw the towel that lay on his shoulders on the ground, leaning on the marble counter and resting his head on his palms. He closed his eyes, wishing desperately that it wasn't a school day. He wondered if Sora was okay. After he told him...well, what he told him, he ran out of the school and was gone for the rest of the day. Riku reopened his eyes and lifted his head.

He walked back into his room and looked around for his school books (not that he had any other kinds of books). He picked up the scattered books and notebooks, pens and pencils, erasers, his ipod, and some other things and put them into his black school bag. It had a strange design on it with lots of scribbles and swirls, and there was some kinda of cross shape mixed in with it all, and a skull. The imprint was in red and white, the mixed colors going perfect with the black backround.

He picked up his bag and slung the black strap over his shoulder, exiting his room and closing the door behind him. When he got downstairs his sister, Fuu (jin), was already eating. He looked around, confused as to where his other siblings were. Riku had a rather large family, it consisted of Xemnas (his father), Xehanort (his uncle), Sephiroth (his oldest brother), Saïx (his second oldest brother), Zexion (who was actually younger than Riku), and Fuu (his sister, who was in fact the same age as Riku). Xemnas was a stern father, and he didn't like spending time with his children. Xehanort was a doctor, and wasn't very friendly, either. Sephiroth was a very mysterious older brother, he was only ever seen by his mother, his father, and Riku had caught a glimpse of him once. Saïx (Riku shuddered at his name) was rather...interesting. Riku was always careful about him, especially when he brought female friends over. Zexion, a rather emo-ish, short fellow, was always reading He had some strange obsession with books that Riku really didn't understand (since he only ever read books if he absolutely _had_ to (not including magazines)). Fuu barely ever said anything. She was always hanging out with Seifer and Rai (jin), and whenever she did speak the most she ever said was two words. Yup, so as you can see, Riku had a rather odd family. Riku wasn't sure why his family acted so weird. He thought it might be because when he was about six years old his mother packed her bags and left. None of them had seen her since. Riku wasn't sure why she left, he was very young then, and he could't remember what was going on at that time in his life, and no one who did remember would tell him. So, Riku continued to wonder.

There were some pop-tarts in the toaster, probably Fuu's, and when they popped up Riku got them out and immediately bit into both. "Hot!" he exclaimed, trying to hurry and swallow the pop-tarts that were currently burning the inside of his mouth.

"Hey!" Fuu said, slapping Riku's arm. Riku stared at her for a moment, and then blinked. He shrugged and made his way to the refridgerator, earning a glare from Fuu, who was now putting more pop-tarts into the toaster. By this time Riku had finished eating the stolen pop-tarts and pulled a carton orange juice out of the fridge, pouring a full glass and gulping it down, putting the empty glass in the sink and rinsing it out, not bothering to put it in the dishwasher.

He walked to one of the chairs at the table and grabbed his school bag (he had left it on the chair when he came into the kitchen), slinging it over his shoulder. "See ya," Riku said, waving and exiting the house, feeling Fuu's death glare on his back as he left.

--

Sora's body ached with pain. The day before, after he had talked to Riku, he ran out of school and didn't go back. Instead, he stayed in a little 'secret cave' all day, crying, hating life. Hating everything about life. Except for Riku.

Anyway, since he had skipped basically the whole day of school, the school called his father and when they told him, well, you can guess that his father was pretty angry. So, let's just say Sora got it pretty bad the other night when he finally came home.

Sora couldn't fall asleep that night, so he was very tired. He slowly and carefully moved his sore body out of his bed, standing up slowly, and slowly making his way out of his room and into the bathroom down the hall, bringing a fresh pair of clothes with him. Once he was finished in the bathroom (showered, dressed, hair brushed), he went back to his room and threw his pj's into one of his dresser drawers.

He then got his school backpack (already filled with his school supplies) and headed to the kitchen, thankful his father had work. He ate breakfast silently, a simple meal of butter and toast and some milk. As he ate, he thought about how miserable he was going to be from now on. How terribly horrible life was going to be without Riku. He couldn't believe his father made him do what he did. I mean, he could, but he hated him for it (as do we all.). He also cursed himself for being so stupid and letting Riku come over to his house, and telling his father that he went with Riku to the beach. If he hadn't let those things happen, he wouldn't be in this mess right now. Part of Sora hated himself for that, and he couldn't help but feel...just horrible. Guilty, sad, mad, stupid, idiotic, terrible, there were so many words to describe how he felt.

Once Sora was done with his small, simple breakfast, he rinsed off the dishes he had used, and any others that his father had left in the sink (which weren't very many), and put them in the dishwasher. He sighed and looked at the house. There was furniture flipped over and laying on the ground in all kinds of weird ways, there was shattered glass on the floor, along with blood, and there was quite a bit of trash scattered around the living room. Sora looked at the clock and decided he had time to clean before he had to leave for school (it didn't take Sora very long to get ready), and so he did. He managed to clean up most of it before he had to leave, there were still some blodd stains here and there and some of the furniture was torn, and there were some small pieces of glass that Sora was not able to find, but other than that he had done a pretty good job in such a short time.

And so, Sora limped all the way to school, wondering why he had to have such a poor, miserable, unhappy life. Why, out of all the people in world, it had to be him.

--

**A/N: Ok, this was totally a filler. Sorry! But I can't rush the story! I mean, this is only the fourth chapter! But don't worry, the next chapter will be up soon and a lot more stuff will happen! And not pointless stuff, either. Of course, there were **_**some**_** important facts in this chapter...I hope you can find them. I also realize that this chapter was kinda short, and that Riku's part was much longer then Sora's, and I'm sorry. Well, I hope you liked it anyway! Please review and stick around for the rest of the story!**


	5. Chapter 5: Forgiveness

**Disclaimer: I, Sora's Sacrifice, do not own Kingdom Hearts (none of em'!) or any of the characters or creatures in it. This is just a fanfic! That is all.**

**A/N: OK, I have finally found the time to type!! I am so proud of myself! Ok, I gotta hurry and type some other things while I still have the muse to! I really hope you like this chapter! I think it was kinda rushed at the end…oh, well. Enjoy anyway!**

**P.S. I finally started reading **_**Twilight**_**! You know, the book series. I love it! And I love Edward!**

**--**

_Broken_

_Chapter 5: Forgiveness_

Sora walked up the concrete steps of the school he had come to hate so much. Destiny High. A stupid name for a stupid school. Sora told himself not to blame the school, but if it weren't for the school, if it weren't for the bullies, if it weren't for Riku...

No. He would **not** blame Riku for this. It was **not** his fault. It was his father's fault. All of this was because of him, because of his mother's death...no, he wouldn't blame her for this, either. He knew it was wrong and it wasn't their fault. They didn't do anything except be kind to him, be his friends, show him what friendship really was. Apparently the 'friendship' he had shared with his father before his mother died was fake. Sora did not allow tears to fall down his cheeks as he walked to his locker, ignoring the stares and whispers he got from the other students. He wished they would all just go away. That they would stop looking at him, stop talking about him. He wished they would just forget he even existed.

But sadly, the world is cruel, and there are some people in this world that are very unfortunate. Sora was one of those people. He didn't know why the world hated him, but they did. Was it his clothes? His shoes? His face? His spiky hair? Did it offend them somehow, or did they just not like him and decide that he was one of the losers that needed punishment for being...worthless? Worthless, weak, helpless, lame...there were so many words to describe how Sora felt. One of those very many words was guilty. Guilt is a very horrible feeling, one of the worst. When you do something wrong, something that hurt someone else, it's almost like you can't forgive yourself. Like...like you've committed the biggest crime--no, sin, in the world, and you can never be forgiven. And the world is right along with you, making you feel worse and worse until you just can't take it anymore. Until you finally break down from guilt, from that horrible feeling inside of you, in your heart. It may feel small at first, but it grows and grows until it's so big that you can't stand it. You feel like screaming, like tearing out your hair, like crying so much that you bleed, but none of these actions, and no others, make you feel any better. They don't take away the guilt. You may feel like you can never be forgiven, like there's no way out and you are going to be tortured by the guilty feeling in your chest for the rest of your life. Like you are the worst person ever and you don't deserve to live. You may try to escape this fate, but even death will not take that feeling away. There is only one way to make that horrible, guilty feeling inside go away: forgiveness. Forgiveness is the escape from everything. For all of your sins and all your sins to come. Everyone makes mistakes, and though forgiveness is the way out, not everyone can gain forgiveness...

Sora was tired, hurting (both on the inside and on the outside), sad, lonely, guilty...

He sighed silently and opened his locker. When he was done with his locker, he closed it and looked at the clock that hung on the white school wall. Sora cursed himself for being early and sat down on the bench near his locker, resting his head on the palms of his hands. And then the bell rang, the school bell, to be exact. It was time to go to his first class, his first stupid class.

Sora wasn't even sure why he was in school. I mean, if you were Sora's father, and you abused Sora, would you put him in school? It sounded pretty stupid to Sora, but he was still glad he was in school. Just because he was abused didn't mean that he should miss out on education.

Sora heaved himself up and headed for his first class, wincing at the slight pain he felt when he shifted his weight from the bench to his feet. Kids walked, ran and skipped to their classes, passing Sora by as though he didn't even exist. Some kids even bumped into him, some causing him to nearly fall over. But Sora didn't blame them. He had never done anything to help the world. He had never done anything...important. He had never made his existence noticeable in the world; no one should have acknowledged him. He didn't blame them if they were mean to him, if they bullied him and bad-mouthed him. He didn't blame them...

The halls were almost empty; Sora was almost to his class. When he got to the entrance of his class, he saw something silver out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head to the right and saw Riku entering a different classroom, a giggling Kairi latched onto his arm. Sora furrowed his brows, confused. Had they started going out? It looked like Riku was enjoying it on the outside, but Sora could see past that. He saw how Riku was sad, confused, and actually kinda hurt on the inside, though he may not admit it. Riku would never let go of his pride, and Sora knew that he wouldn't let one kid like himself stand in Riku's way.

Sora tore his gaze away from the attractive silver-haired teenager and back to the plain door in front of him. He put his hand on the cold doorknob and twisted it open. He was greeted with noise coming from the other students, but no glances. Not even one. Not even from the teacher sitting behind the desk. Sora was used to this, though. The only time he ever got any attention was when kids were teasing and/or bullying him, when he was answering a question asked by a teacher in class, when his father was yelling, screaming, shouting, hitting, kicking, any other type of abusing him, and when...when Riku would talk to him...but that was over. He didn't have Riku anymore. Of course...there was that one time with Naminé the day before, but Sora knew that that was probably just a one-time thing.

Sora entered the classroom and shut the door behind him, quietly taking his seat. Five minutes later, the class started, and the students quieted down. The teacher began talking, and Sora tried to listen, but he just couldn't. His mind was focused on Riku. What was he going to do? He had to do something. Was he just gonna sit back and let his only friend (if he was still friend, that is) be taken away from him? This wasn't fair. None of this was fair.

Class seemed to end faster than usual to Sora, and before he knew it he was in front of his locker again. He grew to love his locker, after some time, it was a weird sort of shelter to him, a shelter from the world. An excuse to not pay attention to anyone, to not listen, to not care, and an excuse to ignore Riku. It wasn't that he wanted to ignore the older teen, but it was so hard to face him when he knew he wasn't supposed to, especially after the other day...

Of course, it wasn't guaranteed that Riku would talk to him again. In fact, Sora thought that Riku would probably never want to talk to him again. What Riku wanted, he got. What Riku didn't want, he didn't get. Riku's life was pretty easy, except for the fact that he didn't do too well in school and that he visited the principle's office often, that and the fact that he got detention a lot.

--

Before he knew it, Sora was walking down the front steps of the school, trying to think of somewhere he could go instead of home. Of course, that wouldn't work, because if he was…distracted again, then he would just get it worse that night. Sora sighed heavily and continued walking, deciding it would probably be best if he went home. He had some homework to catch up on anyway, and he shouldn't have to get bad grades just because of Riku.

"Hey, Sore-ass," someone called from behind him, and Sora could tell this wasn't going to be good. He turned around to face the guy who called for him.

"Me?" Sora asked—already knowing they meant him, mind you—pointing to himself.

"Yeah, you," the other kid replied, a slightly aggravated expression on his face. Sora noticed that there were two other guys there, and immediately knew what they wanted.

"Can I help you?" Sora asked, his voice weak and helpless. The three guys snickered, and then one in the back, a kinda buffed dude, came forward and grabbed Sora by the arm roughly.

"Yes, you can. You can not try to get away while we break all your bones," the guy in the front—Sora was guessing he was their leader—answered, smirking evilly and cracking his knuckles. He gestured with his head for the other guys to follow him, and started walking away. They dragged me along with them, and no matter how hard Sora struggled he couldn't get away.

They brought Sora to a dark alley and threw him against the hard, cold brick wall. All of them came at him at once, trapping him in a small corner. The pain was ten times worse then Sora had thought it would be. All of them, with what seemed to be all the strength in their bodies, starting kicking him at once, all over. It hurt so bad. Sora could hear and feel some of his bones actually breaking, and he yelped in pain when they did. He could feel his eyes stinging, and sure enough tears started to fall down his cheeks seconds later.

To Sora it felt like this went on forever, when in reality it had only lasted for a couple of minutes. One of them stopped, and Sora hoped his 'punishment' was almost over. It was then that the 'leader' took something out of his pocket…a knife. Sora's eyes widened. He didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve any of this. The older teen started to slash at Sora over and over again, cutting him everywhere. Blood poured onto the ground and splattered on the walls surrounding him. More tears, and screams, came from Sora, earning him a hard kick in the jaw.

Sora begged them to stop several times, but they ignored his cries and continued beating him. The kicks got harder and harder, the cuts deeper and deeper. Sora knew if this went on for much longer he would be finished, of course, maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. Maybe it would be better if he died, right there and then. No one really cared about him, after all, and it was not like he had anything to live for.

It was then he heard someone else's presence enter the dark alley. He figured it was another one of them, and didn't even bother looking. Wait, there was more then one. Two, maybe three? Sora shut his eyes tightly, the tears still escaping, unable to scream for help due to the damage done to his throat and jaw. Sora soon began to feel dizzy, and he knew this was the end.

"Hey, cut it out!" one of the newcomers demanded, his voice full of anger, hate, and urgency. His voice sounded kind of familiar, but Sora couldn't quite make it out. The three guys who had been beating Sora stopped to look at who had just spoken. One of them chuckled evilly, Sora thought it might have been the one with the knife, but he wasn't sure.

"Well whaddya know? It looks like Riku came back for his little toy," the teen teased, spinning the knife in his hand. Sora's eyes shot open. He looked in the direction the other guy's voice had come from, and sure enough, Riku was there, as was Wakka. The other two guys chuckled evilly, getting ready to charge at them.

"Just shut up and leave him alone," Riku demanded, and Sora could have sworn he saw a very, very tiny little blush under those silver bangs and on his flawless cheeks.

"Oh yeah? Make me." And then all three of them, at once, charged towards Riku and Wakka. Sora wasn't sure what was going to happen, and he felt too weak to call out to them. More and more blood poured out of his small body every second, causing Sora to lose consciousness.

--

Sora opened his eyes slowly, and almost immediately they met with two aquamarine ones, basically covered by long, silver bangs. "Sora?" Riku asked, concerned.

"Riku?" Sora asked, his voice a whisper, just making sure it was him (his vision was still a little blurry). Riku smiled a little in relief, nodding softly. Sora looked around the room confusedly, and then asked. "Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital," Wakka answered before Riku could. Sora sat still for a moment, and then all of his memories came crashing down on him. And…that's when the pain came back, as well. There was pain all over his body, everywhere, unbelievable pain.

"Wh…what happened?" Sora asked, confused as to why and how he was in the hospital. Riku and Wakka looked at each other for a moment, and then back at Sora.

"Uh, you kinda got beat up…" Riku answered, stating the obvious. Sora shook his head slightly.

"No, I mean what happened after I passed out?" Sora explained.

"Ohhh…" Riku said—even Riku had his stupid moments.

"We beat their butts, man!" Wakka exclaimed, proud of himself. Riku was smiling victoriously along with Wakka. Sora took a moment to respond.

"You mean…you two actually beat them?" Sora asked, surprised.

"Yah, man!" Wakka answered, nodding.

"They were actually pretty weak," Riku added, only realizing after he said that how weak that made Sora sound. Sora closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath and then letting it out, wincing at the slight pain he felt when he did.

"Oh…" Sora said, his voice still very faint. He tried to smile the best he could and then said, "Thank you." Riku smiled softly at Sora, and Wakka had a larger smile, a proud one. Riku's was more sympathetic rather then proud.

"No problem. I'm just sorry we hadn't gotten there sooner," the silver-haired teen replied, slight regret in his voice.

"It's okay." It hurt Sora when he spoke, so he tried to say as little as possible when he did.

"So, are you feeling any better?" Riku asked, worried about his little friend. Sora nodded.

"Yeah," Sora lied, trying to smile. "Hey, Riku…" he continued, his smile going away, "I…I'm sorry," he finished, hoping Riku would understand. Riku just looked at him for a moment, and Sora could tell by looking into his two amazing aquamarine eyes that he knew what he was talking about.

"It's okay, Sora." The way Riku said his name made Sora feel weird. His voice was so soft when he uttered his name, and Sora was unsure whether that was intentional or not.

"Yo man, we gotta go now or we're gonna be late!" Wakka was talking to Riku, nudging him on the arm. Riku nodded to him, and then turned his attention back to Sora.

"I guess we gotta go. Err, see ya later, I guess," Riku said, walking to the door.

"Bye…" the injured brunette said, trying to smile again. And then they left. They were gone. And then Sora felt it…forgiveness.

--

**A/N: Yeah…I think this was kinda short. Sorry. At least I finished it, right? Well, thanks for reading, please stick around for the rest of the story! And please reveeeeeeiw!!**

**P.S. Guess what! I burned my feet the other day! Yeah, it was actually pretty stupid of me. You see, we had to walk to some gas station or something, and I decided not to wear shoes. Of course, I wasn't thinking about the blazing hot sun making the cement sidewalk we had to walk on like an over. Sooooo, yeah. It wasn't that bad though, only for the first day. When I woke up in the morning they were much better. (beta fish says Avatar much?)**

**P.P.S. Oh yeah! The season 3 finale for Avatar: The Last Airbender was awesome!! I mean, words can't explain how good the ending it was! It was unbelievable!! Oh, and, of course, at least 4 reviews for this chapter for me to continue, ok guys? So, review please!**


	6. Chapter 6: Blood

**Disclaimer: I, Sora's Sacrifice, do not own Kingdom Hearts (none of em'!) or any of the characters or creatures in it. This is just a fanfic! That is all.**

**A/N: Has it really only been 6 chapters...? Hmm, interesting. Well, I hope you like this chapter! I liked typing this one for some reason, not quite sure why. ANYWHO, erm...enjoy and review, please!**

**P.S. Reeeeally stupid chapter name (I think so, anyway), but I just couldn't think of anything else!! Forgive me!**

--

_Broken_

_Chapter 6: Blood_

"Stupid kid, making me pay for your little injuries at that hospital! I swear! I mean, how retarded is that?!" Sora's father was yelling at him the whole drive home from the hospital, obviously angry about having to pay for his son. "That munny is coming out of your allowance!" his father continued, unaware he didn't even give his son allowance.

"But dad, I don't even get allowance..." Sora tried to explain, his voice very faint, quiet and weak.

"Shut up!" his father yelled louder then he had been yelling before.

"Sorry..." Sora muttered quietly, almost to himself.

"I said 'shut up'!" his father repeated, growing more and more impatient each second. Sora decided it best to just stay quiet. When they arrived home, Sora's father was still yelling at him, whilst unlocking the front door and shoving Sora in roughly. Sora winced at the pain and caught himself before he fell over. "Go to your room, now!" his father yelled, entering the kitchen, searching for something--either a knife or drugs or something of the like, Sora figured. Sora silently walked to his room, shutting the door quietly behind him. He sat down on his bed, wishing he could still be at the hospital where his father couldn't hurt him. But no, he was back at his house--Sora refused to call it a home anymore--and after what he said in the car he should probably have been expecting the worst. But no, he wasn't thinking about that. Once again his thoughts had drifted to a certain teen, about one year older than him, with amazing aquamarine eyes, light skin, silver hair framing his beautiful face perfectly, and the most enchanting smile Sora had ever seen. Riku.

He heard his father cussing in the kitchen and was taken away from his wonderful thoughts. Moments later his father burst into the room, angry as ever, and sure enough holding a knife. Sora gulped, trying to think of Riku and not focus on the pain he was about to feel, but finding the task harder than he had thought it would be. His father slammed the door behind him and, making sure the window in Sora's room was closed, walked towards Sora, each step haunting the poor boy.

Finally his father reached his bed where he was sitting and grabbed him by his neck, lifting him up off of the floor and into the air. Sora shut his eyes tightly and held his father's arm (the one that was currently holding him by the neck) with both of his hands, struggling.

"Do you know how much munny that hospital bill cost me?" Sora's father asked, lightly tracing the knife along Sora's left cheek, not yet cutting into his skin.

"No..." Sora whipsered, his eyes now wide with fear.

"I can't hear you," Sora's father said, his teeth gritted.

"I said 'no'," Sora said, louder this time so that his father could hear him.

"Well guess what? It cost me a lot," his father replied, and Sora could feel the blade against his cheek being pressed onto his cheek, harder now. "And about what you said in the car..." his father continued, cutting into the flesh on Sora's cheek, a thin line of crimson liquid pouring from the wound and onto his hand, "don't you ever talk to me like that again! Do you understand me?!" Sora's father yelled, cutting deeper into the soft tissue on Sora's cheek. Tears were escaping Sora's eyelids, his beautiful cerulean blue eyes filled with fear, sadness and pain.

"Yes, sir," Sora said, his voice cracking. His father's eyes narrowed, lowering Sora down onto his bed, still holding him by the neck, his body above Sora's. He lowered the knife first to Sora's neck, then down to his chest and then his belly. Sora was frozen with fear, his father had an odd look in his eyes, one that Sora had never seen before. Except for in his dream, the one where his father killed his mother...

Sora's eyes grew wider, and he knew he wasn't ready to die. Not yet. He wanted to see Riku one last time. Just one more time. "You look a lot like your mother..." his father began, cutting through the flesh on Sora's arms, making different lines and patterns, blood spilling out, "before she died," he finished, and Sora knew for sure now that it had been his father who had killed his mother. And now he was going to kill him, no doubt. Sora closed his eyes, not even able to think about the pain in his cheek, his arms and now just below his jaw line. _Please, just let it be quick... _Sora pleaded in his mind, tears still pouring down his bloody cheeks.

Sora felt a slight scratch from the blade on his neck, and then suddenly felt his shirt being torn off. Sora opened his eyes in confusement, and more tears came when his father started to cut into his chest. Of course, he was going to torture him as much as possible first, then kill him. Sora tried to hold it in, but couldn't stand it anymore and screamed in pain. His father only cut in deeper after this, causing Sora to scream more. Sora decided to try and imagine himself in a different place, like, with Riku, to keep his mind off of the pain. It worked a little, and Sora soon found himself falling into unconsciousness from loss of blood.

When he woke up (he couldn't believe he was still alive), he was...underwater? Sora's eyes shot open, and sure enough, there was blue water surrounding him. Sora realized very suddenly that he couldn't breath and couldn't hold his breath for much longer. Sora tried to swim to the surface, but when he did he felt horrible pain everywhere. He tried to ignore the pain and get some air before he drowned, and after a couple more tries managed to get his head above the water for a few moments, gasping for air, but was then pulled back under. Sora struggled to keep his head above the water, but continued to go up and down. He realized that the current of the water was pulling him somewhere, and knew he had to get to land. He tried desperately to doggy-pattle to the soft, light sand he saw at the edge of the water, and after quite a few tries, he finally got there. He didn't know where he was, or what was going to happen to him, but he knew he was indeed alive. Sora suddenly realized he had swallowed a lot of water and started coughing violently, on his hands and knees.

"Sora...?" he heard a voice nearby him ask unsuredly, and instantly recognized it as Riku's. He turned to look in the direction the voice had come from, and there he was, standing there, looking at Sora questioningly and looking perfect as always. Sora noticed his expression change from confused to alarmed and he quickly ran over to Sora (though they weren't too far apart to begin with) and got down on his knees beside Sora. "Are you okay?" Riku asked, Sora noticing the urgent tone in his voice. Sora looked back down at the ground and shook his head, unable to speak, deciding not to lie, since it would be useless anyway. His arms suddenly felt very weak and he fell over, onto Riku. Riku, being more than strong enough to support Sora's weight, caught him in his strong arms. Sora felt too weak to move or speak, so he just lay there. He wasn't sure what Riku was thinking, but he knew that he was staying very still, except for his chest which rose and fell at a steady pace. Sora was leaning against Riku's chest, quite comfortable in Riku's lap.

Sora felt sudden happiness run through him. Sure he had gotten badly injured (again), but he was finally free from his father--or at least for now--and he was with Riku. Not just with Riku, but awfully close to Riku as well. He felt safe in Riku's arms, and was comforted by the rise and fall of his firm chest. Sora closed his eyes, knowing he would be safe with Riku, and drifted to sleep.

--

Sora woke up in a hospital bed, something warm holding his hand. He opened his eyes slowly, his vision blurry at first, but as soon as his eyes focused he could see Riku next to him, sitting in a chair next to the bed, sleeping. His left arm was under his head, which was turned to his right, and his right hand was holding Sora's gently. Sora felt bandages all over him, his face, his neck, his chest, his belly, his back, his legs, his arms, everywhere. Even on his toes and fingers.

Sora exhaled deeply, feeling sharp pain in his chest as he did so. He closed his eyes, glad that Riku was still with him, and attempted to fall asleep again.

He woke up again hours later, feeling better than before, Riku still by his side. They were both awake now, though Riku seemed distracted by something. He was gazing out of a medium sized window that was next to the bed (the side he was on), his expression thoughtful. Sora didn't want to disturb him, so he remained quiet and examined Riku carefully. His hair had grown a little longer since they met, Sora wondered if he had any intention of ever cutting it. He had also grown just a tad bit taller and his skin was a bit darker now, though not too dark. Sora also wondered if he was trying to get a tan or if he liked his shade of skin and was trying to keep it that shade. His aquamarine eyes had grown a bit more smooth, though they were still as beautiful as always. And he was certainly as...handsome as always. And as he looked out that window, unaware that Sora was staring at him, the light from outside shone in, shining on Riku, making him look even more like an angel.

Riku suddenly tore his gaze away from the window and looked at Sora who was completely unprepared for his two, amazing aquamarine orbs to land on him. "Oh, you're awake," the silver-haired teen stated. There was something in his eyes, in his voice, that Sora didn't quite recognize.

"Riku...?" Sora asked cautiously, furrowing his brows slightly. Riku just stared at him for a moment, then his expression changed, it was harder this time, maybe even a little angry, his brows were furrowed and his eyes were narrowed.

"Sora," Riku began, and Sora could tell that he was trying his best to keep his voice calm, "how did this happen?" Sora should have been expecting this. He had cuts all over him, of course Riku was going to wonder what had happened.

"I--" Sora began.

"No lies," Riku demanded. Sora sighed and looked at the clock on the hospital wall that read 3:28, and then looked down.

"I...cut myself," Sora lied, trying to make it sound as believable as possible. Riku's expression didn't soften.

"I said no lies, Sora," his tone was cold, something Sora had never heard in it before. Sora looked at him, suprised by the seriousness in his voice, eyes slightly wider then before, and decided that he could tell Riku, they could arrest his father, and then Sora would be...in an orphanage. Well, better then being with an abusive father.

"It was..." Sora looked away from Riku, trying to think of a way to say this. "You see..." Sora tried again, but failed. He looked at Riku again and noticed the slight impatience evident on his face. "My father...he..." Sora looked away again, a strange feeling creeping up on Sora as he said the words 'my father'. Riku's eyes widened, his brows still furrowed.

"Your father did this to you?" he asked, some kind of weird horrified look in his eyes, his voice harsh and filled with hate. Sora nodded weakly, refusing to look at Riku. Riku continued to stare at Sora, then looked away, back towards the window. After a few silent moments Riku continued. "Why?" he asked, looking back at Sora, his expression softened.

"Because...he blamed me for my mother's death..." And then his memories before he had gone unconscious came rushing back into his mind. His eyes were wide with realization and a weird urgent look in them. "My mom!" he shouted suddenly. Riku looked slighty alarmed at Sora's sudden outburst. "My mom, they found her, dead, but they never found out who did it. And then my dad was all like 'you look just like your mother before she died' and--" Sora paused for a moment to try and collect his thoughts. "He did it! He killed her! It was him!! He was the stupid idiot who killed her!!" Sora shouted, salty tears pouring down his cheeks at a rapid pace. Riku's eyes were wide all of a sudden, unsure of what to do. Here he had just learned that Sora's father had been abusing him and apparently killed his mother, and now Sora was crying. Great.

"Hey, it's okay," Riku told Sora, his voice soft and quiet, standing up and putting a hand on Sora's shoulder (Sora was sitting up). Sora grabbed Riku and pulled him closer to the bed, clinging to him for dear life. Sora cried into Riku's belly, getting Riku's shirt wet with tears. Riku looked suprised at first, but then put his arms around Sora, whispering soothing words to him, rubbing his back gently.

Sora calmed down a little while later, and seemed to have fallen asleep. Riku gently lay Sora down on the hospital bed, and sure enough, his eyes were closed. Riku couldn't smile at him, no matter how cute he was, not yet. Not after knowing how much he had been suffering, not yet. Not yet...

Riku furrowed his brows slightly, a worried look in his eyes. What was going to happen to his friend now? Would he be put in an orphanage? Would he be adopted? Would he have to move somewhere else...no, Riku wouldn't let that happen, he was too selfish. The door suddenly opened and a doctor stepped in, carrying a clip board and a pen.

"How is he doing?" the doctor asked Riku, walking to the bed Sora lay sleeping on, the opposite side Riku was on, the side closer to the door.

"Fine, I guess..." Riku answered, the continued, "he woke up again," he told the doctor, not bothering to look away from Sora.

"Oh? Did he feel any pain?"

"He didn't say..." Riku said, distracted by something. The doctor seemed to notice and asked.

"Is something wrong?" Riku tore his gaze away from the sleeping boy to look up at the docter.

"Uh...no?" Riku wasn't exactly sure how to answer that.

"Did something happen?"

"No..."

"Did he tell you anything?" Riku took a moment to answer this.

"Actually, yeah..." And that's when Riku told the doctor everything Sora had told him. The docter called the police and they found Sora's address in his school files. But when they got to his house, his father was gone. The house was empty, there was no trace of him anywhere.

--

**A/N: Well? How was it? I really hope you liked it! Yeah, I know it was kinda short, sorry. And yes, I also know it had a weird ending, sorry bout' that, too. But please review! It gives me so much more inspiration to write! So...review!**

**P.S. I know it might seem like the story is almost over, but there is actually a lot more to it than this. So stick around!**


	7. Chapter 7: Out of the Hospital

**Disclaimer: I, Sora's Sacrifice, do not own Kingdom Hearts (none of em'!) or any of the characters or creatures in it. This is just a fanfic! That is all.**

**A/N: Ok, first, I just want to say how awesome you guys are! This story already has 48 reviews and only 6 chapters! That's almost 50 reviews! Thanks, you guys! You rock! Please, keep it up!**

**Phew, I'm finally done! I've been working on this chapter for hours straight! I really hope you like it...the next couple of chapters or so probably won't be too sad...at least as far as I know. Soooo...yeah...enjoy! And please, please, please review!**

**--**

_Broken_

_Chapter 7: Out of the Hospital_

"Do you have any relatives that you could live with?" Riku asked Sora, trying desperately to find Sora somewhere to live. After thinking for a moment, Sora shook his head.

"Not any that I know of," he answered, feeling rather tired from all of Riku's questions. Riku rubbed his temples, slightly aggravated by all of Sora's answers. Apparently, Sora had no friends, no aqaintences, nobody he just knew, no family or relatives he knew about, either, he wasn't old enough to live by himself, no one in the school was willing to take him in, none of his neighbors would take him in, he didn't want to go to an orphanage (he had heard once that they were really terrible), and Riku couldn't think of anything else. And then it hit him.

"Okay...then you can live with us," Riku suggested, or rather demanded, standing up and stretching. Sora's eyes grew wide, filled with hope, excitement, happiness and pure joy.

"Really?!" Sora asked, a huge smile on his angelic face.

"Well, yeah...that is, until we find you a new home. We'll bring people over to our house, people who are looking for a teenager son, and we'll introduce you guys to each other and whatnot. Once you find some people you like, you can go move in with them," Riku answered, crossing his arms and looking out the small window next to the bed, as usual.

"Oh..." Sora said, looking down, a little disappointed. Riku noticed his sudden change in mood, and spoke up again.

"Don't worry, we'll make sure they're good people," he assured Sora, smiling gently. Sora tried to smile, but he wasn't sure that he liked the idea of moving in with different people. "And we'll make sure that they don't plan on moving too far away, or switching you to a different school," Riku continued, not fully convinced by Sora's smile. Sora's smile didn't grow bigger or smaller, it just stayed in place, obediently. "And we'll make sure that they don't have a criminal record," Riku joked, trying to make Sora laugh. It worked...kinda. Sora laughed a little, his beautiful face now bearing a slightly bigger, but still weak, smile. "Look," Riku began again, "I would let you stay with us...permanently, but my dad doesn't really want another person to take care of, and feed, and..."

"It's okay, Riku. I don't want to be a burden," Sora said, his voice sad and yet a little sharper then he meant it to be.

"No, Sora, that's not what I meant--" Riku said quickly, but then the doctor entered the room (Riku was thankful).

"Well, hello boys. How are we doing?" the docter asked, walking over to Sora's bed, and doing his usual check-up on the boy.

"Fine..." Sora answered, staring at his hands.

It had been a while since Sora had been put in the hospital, and he was basically all healed up. He would be released in about a week or so. Riku hadn't left Sora's side once while he was in the hospital, and Sora felt very safe and comforted by Riku's presence.

--

One Week Later...

Sora had been let out of the hospital and he and Riku were currently headed over to his house to get his belongings so that they could bring them to Riku's house. When they got to Sora's old house the front door was unlocked, the police left it that way so that they could get inside (they had heard that they were coming). Sora opened it slowly, carefully and quietly, as if his father was still inside. Riku watched him curiously, wondering if he was doing that out of fear or if it was force of habit. When the door was open, they both stepped inside, Sora being more quiet then Riku, and headed to Sora's room. Riku had only been in Sora's house one time before, a while ago, and it looked basically the same as he remembered it. Only this time there were broken bottles on the floor and shattered glass everywhere. Riku furrowed his brows slightly, but continued following Sora, past the kitchen and into the hall, and then into his room. Sora opened the door quicker then the other one, and seemed to enter more quickly, quietly shutting the door once Riku was inside, also.

"Sora, it's okay. Your dad is gone," Riku reminded him, giving him a concerned look. Sora just stared at him for a moment, and then looked at the door in realization. He had forgotten about that for a moment there...

"Right..." Sora replied, nodding slightly and then walking to his small dresser, not trying to be quite so quiet this time. He opened one of the drawers and then looked around for a bag. Riku looked around Sora's room and noticed that there was blood on the bed and some on the floor. He furrowed his brows angrily, wishing he could have done something sooner. "Umm...maybe I should get one of my dad's suitcases?" Sora asked Riku, breaking his train of thought, not having anything to hold his belongings except for his school bag. Riku nodded and re-opened the door to Sora's room, and then walked out into the hall. He could hear Sora following close behind him, and could almost feel him shaking with fear.

"Where is his room?" Riku asked quietly, trying not to make Sora even more scared than he already was. Sora pointed to an old staircase, stained with blood and more broken glass. Riku walked over to the staircase and looked it up and down. There was a knife laying on one of the steps, dried blood clinging to its blade. Riku furrowed his brows again, the hate he felt for Sora's father bubbling up inside of him. He lifted his right foot and put it on the first steps, bring careful to avoid any broken peices of glass as he did, and then felt Sora tightly grab onto his left arm. Riku looked at the brunette questioningly, and then realized his eyes were wide with fear and he was shaking his head back and forth. "Sora...?"

"No, we can't go up there," Sora said, his voice quiet and filled with fear.

"Why not?" Riku asked him, looking back up the bloody staircase and then back at Sora.

"Because, he'll get mad. He'll get really mad," Sora whispered, tears filling up in his beautiful, cerulean blue eyes. He was tugging on Riku's arm, begging him to come away from the staircase. Riku did, and they went back into Sora's room, Sora still holding onto Riku's arm tightly.

"Sora," Riku began softly, "there's nothing to be afraid of. Your father is long gone, and he's not coming back," Riku explained. Sora continued shaking his head, holding onto Riku's arm even tighter now. Riku sighed. "Don't you wanna get out of here?" he asked.

"Yes..." Sora answered quietly, nodding a little.

"Then we have to go get the suitcase."

"Suitcase...?" Sora asked, as if he had forgotten the whole reason they were going to go up there. Riku nodded slowly.

"Yeah, remember? That's why we were going up there, to get the suitcase, so we could put your stuff in it," the silver-haired teen explained, looking at Sora with pity.

"Oh yeah..." Sora said, suddenly remembering everything. He looked up at Riku, an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry..." he said quietly.

"It's okay, Sora," Riku said, smiling comfortingly at him. "Do you think you can make it this time?" Riku asked, trying to bring some humor to the atmosphere. Sora smiled weakly and nodded.

"I think so," he answered, and then followed Riku to the door, still holding onto his arm. They made it to the staircase again and, after giving Sora a reassuring look, Riku lifted his right foot once more and set it down on the first step carefully. He could feel Sora shaking, but he wasn't resisting anymore, so Riku continued to the next step.

Eventually they made it to the top of the staircase, and Sora couldn't remember ever feeling so afraid since his father was still in this house. For some reason, he thought his father was going to pop out of nowhere and torment him until death. He kept reminding himself that Riku was with him and if his father did pop out of nowhere, then Riku could most likely protect him. They walked down the upstairs hall slowly, the floor creaking every now and then, and Sora jumping whenever it did. Riku's arm was starting to hurt because of Sora's tight grasp on it, but Riku tried to just ignore the pain, find Sora's father's room, get a suitcase, put Sora's things in it, get out of that house and never go back.

Sora suddenly pointed at an old, broken door that was closed, and Riku walked to it, figuring he meant that that was his father's old room. Riku put his hand on the cold doorknob and twisted it slowly. He then pushed the door open and stood there for a moment, looking inside at the darkness. Sora was shaking uncontrollably by this time and Riku could feel his arm turning purple. He walked slowly into the room and searched the walls on either side of the door for a light switch. Eventually he found one, and turned it on. The room was pretty simple. There was a plain bed, a closet, a dresser, a sidetable next to the bed with a small lamp on it, a digital clock on the bed, broken liqor bottles on the floor, clothes everywhere, a knife that looked like it had been there forever, and a couple of ciggarette boxes. The room smelled horrible, and both Riku and Sora wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

"Where is it?" Riku asked Sora, stepping further into the room. Sora pointed to the closet which was on the left side of the room, and Riku walked to it carefully. He opened it and dug around the pile of junk for a moment before finding a medium sized suitcase. "Will this work?" he asked Sora, and Sora nodded in reply. Riku carried the suitcase out of the room, shutting off the light as they left, walked down the stairs and then back into Sora's room. He gave Sora the suitcase, and Sora slowly took it and let go of Riku's now purple (and numb) arm. Riku rubbed his arm gently, feeling coming back to it slowly.

Sora filled the suitcase with his belongings (Riku was suprised that mostly everything fit into the suitcase), also putting a few things in his school bag, and soon they were off. When they were outside of the seemingly haunted house, they walked faster, trying to get as far away as quickly as possible. Sora had left his blankets and pillows there (Riku had told him to), because they had some other blankets and such for Sora to use at the house.

When they finally arrived at Riku's house (they had to walk the whole way there), Riku reached into his pocket and took out a key. He unlocked the front door and stepped inside, letting Sora in, too, before shutting the door. Sora had never been in Riku's house before, and gasped when he saw it. He thought it had looked amazing on the outside, but now that he was on the inside...it was incredible.

When you entered the house you walked into a square place for shoes, coats and whatnot, then there was a hallway. There were three different ways to go, straight, right and left.

If you went right you would enter the living room. In the living room there was a huge flat screen TV, a long, fancy, comfy couch, every kind of game machine/device in the world in a unique looking shelf-thingy next to the TV, hundreds of different games as well, a soda and snack machine, vibrating chairs, and a huge window.

If you went left you would come to the kitchen. There were several windows on the walls, a huge, expensive table, lots of comfortable (and matching) chairs, a silver fridgerator filled with all kinds of food, lots of cupboards and drawers, filled with more food, dishes, silverware, etc.. There were lots of counters, a fancy stove, a microwave _and_ a microwave oven, lots of different pans and oven mits and such, and various kinds of plants and such. There was also a closet and there was a little bar-counter thing that you could eat at if you wished.

If you went straight then the hall would continue. There were severl different doors on either side of the hall walls, some were closets, one was a bathroom, one led to a large computer room with several different computers. They all had internet and worked perfectly and quickly without any lagging or anything like that at all, they all had lots of GBs, and were stocked with all kinds of cool computer games and whatnot. There were also lots of printers and scanners and paper. Another door led to a fax room. Then at the end of the hallway you would finally come to a staircase that turned round and round like a slide at a playground. There was a door on the side of the stairs that led to underneath the stairs. When you got up to the top of the stairs, there was another hall, this one was wider, with, yet again, doors on either side. One of them led to his father's room (they didn't go inside there for several reasons), one of them led to another bathroom, one of them led to a theater room with a huge screen and several chairs (just like a movie theater), one of them led to a game room (like an arcade), one of them led to a mini-kitchen, one led to a random closet, another one led to another bathroom, and then at the end of the hall it split into two halls, one going right and one going left. There was a large window, a window seat and some plants.

If you went left you would find three rooms on the left side of the wall (the other side lead to outside) and a small balcony on the right side.

The first room lead to a huge library/study. It had millions of books inside, a couple of computers, some chairs, a couch, some tables, some windows, some of those cool ladder things that move around to you can reach all of the books, oh--and it had stairs to reach the top floor where the rest of the books were. There were also some closets in there, too.

The second room was a huge art room. There were painting suppiles, drawing supplies, lots of paper, paint brushes, pencils, pens, crayons, pastels, paint, water colors, everything. There was so much it was unbelievable.

The third room was a craft room. There were all sorts of craft things, too many to name. It was like craft heaven.

If you went right, you would eventually come to three more rooms and another small balcony. The first room was just kind of a relaxing room. There was a comfy couch, comfy chairs, comfy love seats, small tables, another mini-fridge in case you were hungry, another flat screen TV (smaller than the one in the living room) and a single bookcase.

The second room was a guest room. It had a nice, comfy bed with light blue sheets, blankets and pillow cases. There was a sidetable on the right side of the bed with a small, light blue lamp and a digital alarm clock. There was a closet, a dresser, a rug, a window, a desk, and a mirror.

The third room was Riku's room. It was huge. The bed was in a corner facing out so that it wasn't against the wall. The bed sheets were white underneath the black blankets and dark blue pillows. There was a large window on the right wall, and a closet on the next wall. There was a dresser next to the closet, and the door was placed on the next wall. There was a sidetable on the left side of his bed, and a mini fridge, a small couch, a TV (with cable, a PS3) and a small bookcase (filled with magazines, movies, video games, and only a couple of actual books) in that corner. There was also a bathroom. His school bag was lazily hung by the strap on one of his bed's leg-thingies, and his laptop was on the desk that was placed against the wall. His large window overlooked the huge backyard. There was a large, built-in pool, a large jacuzzi, a large patch of cement with a grill, a table, etc., a then there was a large patch of fresh, green grass. There was also a mini-golf course.

On the balcony on the right hall, there was a large, expensive and simply amazing telescope. You could even hook it up to your laptop, type in the planet name of the planet you want to see, and then it would show it on the screen. There was a little table to put your laptop on in case you wanted to do that.

Sora stared in awe as Riku showed him around the house, and then told him that he would be staying in the guest room. Sora couldn't speak, so he nodded and put his stuff in the guest room.

"So, you like the house?" Riku asked, finding Sora's expression amusing.

"Yeah...it's amazing," Sora managed to say, squeeking (somehow). Riku laughed softly, his laughter sounding like angelic music to Sora. It rang in his ears, making him smile. They were currently walking down the hallway on the first floor and to the front door. Sora didn't have very many clothes, and a lot of the ones he had were bloodstained, so Riku was going to buy him some new ones.

--

**A/N: Ok, I think that this one is longer then some of the others, so I hope you are happy. I am. I feel...accomplished. Anywho, I hope you liked this chapter. Thanks for reading! Please review!**

**P.S. Sorry for all the explaining...I just had this idea for Riku's house and I had to get it out!**


	8. Chapter 8: Storms

**Disclaimer: I, Sora's Sacrifice, do not own **_**Kingdom Hearts**_** (none of 'em!) or any of the characters or creatures in it. This is just a fanfic! And I don't own **_**The Phantom of the Opera**_** or **_**Dracula 2000**_**, either. That is all.**

**A/N: Ok, first of all, I want to say that I'm reeeeeally sorry I took so long to update! It's been two months, and I feel terrible about making you guys wait so long. In fact, I still feel terrible, because this is kinda a filler chapter, and I'm sorry. But this story needs time to progress! I'll have the next chapter up really soon to make up for it, ok? Again, I'm really sorry! I promise on L's grave that I will have chapters up a lot more often from now on! So, without further-ado, here's the eighth chapter of **_**Broken**_**! **

**--**

_Broken_

_Chapter 8: Storms_

Sora huffed, frustrated, trying to hide the embarrasment he felt as Riku teased him about how cute he would look in a dress. He was currently suggesting that Sora buy a light blue, knee-length dress, and go skipping around wearing flowers in his hair, holding a basket full of...well, flowers, and hug everyone he met. Sora blushed at this and smacked Riku's shoulder -- causing him no real pain -- in turn causing Riku to laugh at him some more. Sora finally got tired of Riku's little teasing fest and headed to another small store in the mall with clothes in it that were made for boys -- not little dresses.

Riku followed close behind, deciding that it was no fun making fun of Sora when he wasn't there (gee, isn't he smart?). And so, after some time, Riku and Sora bought Sora some new clothes -- or rather Sora picked out the clothes and Riku purchased them -- and were headed home. That was when it started to rain.

At first it was just drizzling with a dark sky and a few dark rain clouds, the sky got darker, the rain got harder and the sky got very much covered by dark rain clouds, then the wind picked up along with it, lightening flashed in the sky and you could hear the low rumble of thunder. And so basically...it was a storm (big surprise there).

At first the two boys just stood at the entrance of the mall, under the shelter of a small roof thingy (I don't know what they're called). Then Riku walked forward, leaving the shelter of the tiny roof thing, and headed towards his house. Sora stayed very close to Riku, as if the rain was going to hurt him somehow.

"Are you okay?" Riku asked, one silver eyebrow raised in question.

"Huh?" Sora seemed to have just noticed Riku looking at him oddly, and then smiled up at him sheepishly. "Oh! Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just...cold!" Sora cried, as if he suddenly just came up with that idea. "Yes, very, very cold," he concluded, pretending to shiver (though Riku wasn't sure if the shiver was completely fake). Sora's skin felt cold, and it was paler than it should've been.

"Are you sure?" Riku asked again, double checking that his small brunette--err, _the_ small brunette, was okay. Sora nodded enthusiastically. Suddenly there was a loud roll of thunder and a quick, bright flash of lightening in the dark sky above them, and Sora clung to Riku's arm (the same arm that he had clung to earlier that day) like a lifeline. His eyes were shut tight, his hold on Riku's arm strong, his body was very close to Riku's, ever closer than before, and his body was trembling. Was Sora afraid of storms? Riku gave him yet another odd look, and as the thunder passed Sora slowly opened his eyes. When he did, Riku saw his cerulean blue eyes streaked with fear, and his expression quickly turned confused and worried. "Are you positive you're okay?" Riku urged, furrowing his brows. Sora's head shot up towards Riku's, his eyes filled with slight terror for a moment, and then he suddenly hid the fear, trying his best to flash a believable smile.

"Yes, Riku! I'm fine!" Sora insisted, still trembling, though his grip on Riku's arm had loosened slightly. Riku sighed and gave up. He figured as long as Sora wasn't in any real danger right then, then it could wait until they got home...and dried off.

The rain was pouring, and both of the poor boys were soaked. By the time they got back to their house (or rather Riku's house) they were soaked to the bone and both were freezing so much that they couldn't stop chattering their teeth and shivering all over. Why, they could hardly feel their toes and fingers, let alone move! Riku's father wasn't home, and there were more than enough bathrooms for both of the teens to take a shower at the same time (plenty of hot water, too). So, each one grabbing a clean, dry pair of clothes, they two boys took nice, slightly long showers. The hot water felt so good on their cold skin, and it un-numbed their bodies and un-froze their lips.

Riku was confused. Usually storms on Destiny Islands were not that bad, or cold. Although, there were the rare times when they were. Lucky them they were out in one of them. Riku figured it was nearing winter, because that was when the storms on Destiny Islands usually got a bit colder.

--

When they were done with their showers, they both ended up in the living room. Sora was curled up on the couch with a warm blanket draped around him, and Riku sat next to him, remote in hand. The huge, wide-screen TV was on and they were currently watching 'The Phantom of the Opera'. Riku was having his fun annoying Sora by making rude little comments about every scene in the movie, and Sora was arguing with him, defending the characters, outfits, songs, setting...basically everything. Riku stopped making fun of the movie after a while when they got further into the movie and it got more intense. He actually seemed interested in it now, paying much more attention then he had been before. Sora caught Riku's smirk as they were singing 'The Point of No Return'. Sora would have scolded him, but he was also interested in the movie, and so both remained mostly silent until the end of the movie.

When the movie was over, Riku stood up and stretched, then headed to the kitchen, muttering something that Sora couldn't understand on his way there. Moments later he came back into the living room carrying a cup of orange juice and a bag of cookies. He threw the small snack bag at Sora, revealing that they were chocolate chip cookies, and took his seat next to Sora again, sipping his orange juice.

"Thanks, Riku!" Sora exclaimed, overly excited about the small bag of cookies. Riku nodded, signaling that Sora was welcome, too busy drinking his juice to answer correctly. The storm had calmed down a lot, and Riku had completely forgotten about Sora's reaction to it earlier.

The TV spoke up and said that up next was 'Dracula 2000' (they had been watching 'The Phantom of the Opera' on cable.). Riku, seeing nothing better to do than watch a vampire movie that was rated R, left the TV on, waiting impatiently for the commercials to end.

Sora was greedily munching on the small cookies, only just then realizing how hungry he had been. 'Dracula 2000' was starting. It showed a boat sailing on calm waters, there was a sunset and all seemed calm and peaceful. Then the setting changed and it was suddenly night, the waves were wild, the wind was strong, the sky was dark, and the sailors on the boat that had once been content and undisturbed were now all dead.

As the movie progressed and Dracula finally came in, Sora realized that it was the same actor that played Erik in 'The Phantom of the Opera', Gerard Butler. Sora thought that that was pretty cool, because that same channel had just played a movie with the same actor as the main character in both movies. Sora tried hard to ignore Riku's smirks and comments during the movie, but he realized that Riku had a perverted side to him that wouldn't keep quiet.

When the movie was over, and Dracula finally dead, it was around 2:00 am. Sora was tired, and Riku didn't see any point in staying up any later, so the teens turned of the TV and headed upstairs, both vaguely wondering where Riku's father was at this hour. After brushing their teeth and bidding each other goodnight, the boys entered their seperate rooms and went to sleep.

--

Lightening cracked and thunder boomed. Sora woke with a sudden gasp. He sat up immediately in his bed -- which was quite comfy -- and looked at the window on the wall nearby him, watching the flash of lightening through the thin curtains. His breathing became heavier, and he tried to calm himself. _It's just a storm. It'll pass. It's okay,_ he thought to himself, closing his eyes and rocking slightly back and forth, clinging tightly to the blanket over him. He gasped again and his eyes shot open when another sudden crack of lightening struck and thunder rolled like a hard whip and loud drum (beta fish says that was eloquent and Xigbar's gonna eat Axel's toast on PURPOSE!).

Sora gulped and lay back down moments after that roll of thunder had passed. He slowly closed his eyes, only to re-open them when yet another crack of lightening was heard. He shifted his position so that he would be more comfortable, now facing outwards instead of towards the wall, so that he could see the door. It was silent for a while, only the sound of rain could be heard outside, and Sora thought that the storm was finally passing. He started to fall asleep when suddenly -- boom! There it was again. Sora struggled with trying to fall asleep for a while, but finally gave up, realizing that he was just too scared to fall asleep. It wasn't that he was afraid of storms...well, not exactly.

Finally, although Sora knew that he shouldn't wake him and disturb his sleep, Sora decided to head over to Riku's room. He slowly got out of bed, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and then slowly shifting his weight so that he was standing on them, and walked over to the door. His pace quickened as he opened the door and then suddenly heard another loud crack and low rumble.

When he got to Riku's door -- which didn't take him very long -- he very quietly opened the door, stifling a gasp as a very sudden and very, very loud crack of lightening hit and thunder rolled so loud Sora could swear that the house was shaking. He cautiously stepped into Riku's room and shut the door behind him, being very quiet and slow with every movement he made, so as to not wake Riku up (beta fish says as if he would wake up to Sora and not the storm). Standing at the entrance for a moment, Sora continued cautiously and soon made his way to Riku's bed, nearly tripping over the mess in Riku's room several times but somehow managing to stay quiet. Or so he thought.

When he was finally standing next to Riku's bed, after another loud thunder burst, Sora heard a muffled, tired voice speak.

"What time is it?" Sora stared at Riku's figure hidden underneath a large blanket, suprised that the older teen was awake. And all along Sora thought that he was being quiet...or maybe the storm had woken him up? Sora looked at the small digital clock that lay atop Riku's sidetable.

"4:27," Sora answered, shuffling his feet nervously. Riku just lay there, silent for a few moments, and then slowly and lazily turned so that he was half-facing Sora, still not sitting up all the way, leaning his weight on his elbow. His aquamarine eyes stared at Sora expectantly, and Sora could tell by the light of another flash of lightening that Riku was tired. After another moment of waiting, Riku spoke up again.

"Is there something you wanted?" Riku asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. Sora shook his head, mumbling a quiet 'no'. "Okay then," Riku said, rolling back over, "goodnight."

"But--" Sora stopped himself. He looked down shamefully as Riku turned back over, a slightly impatient expression on his face.

"What?" he asked flatly, clearly wanting to get back to sleep.

"Well, I..." Sora hesitated, Riku smirked.

"You're afraid of storms, aren't you?" he asked, a teasing tone to his voice.

"N-no!" the poor brunette stuttered, raising his hands up in defense. "I just...um...I'm afraid of...that...uh...vampire movie we watched. That's all," he lied pathetically, thinking that being afraid of a silly vampire movie was better than being afraid of a little storm. Riku seemed to believe it, and his smirk only widened. "So...can I sleep with you?" Okay, now Sora felt stupid. But he couldn't help it, he really was scared. Not for the reasons Riku thought, though.

"Well, I'm a vampire, so you better not," Riku teased, flashing his pearly white teeth as if fangs were going to be there. Sora glared at him flatly, then looked away. After a moments' silence, Riku sighed, and Sora looked back at him with hopeful eyes. "C'mon," the silver-haired teen said, lifting up part of the blanket and gesturing for Sora to come under with him. Sora smiled and got into Riku's bed, getting comfy under the thick blanket.

"Goodnight!" Sora chirped, as usual his fear leaving when he was with Riku, by his side.

"G'night," Riku replied, yawning. It was silent for a while, and then: "You're not really afraid of vampires, are you?" Sora sighed.

"Goodnight, Riku," he said dismissively, and both boys fell asleep.

--

**A/N: Ok, I checked and it said that this was 2000 and something words long, so I'm sorry if it seemed short to you. As for the movies...I love **_**The Phantom of the Opera**_**, and we saw **_**Dracula 2000**_** on TV the other day, so...I dunno. Anywho...guess what! I finished my Mello plushie! Well, mostly, anyway. You see, me and my sisters have been making these plushies, and, uh...yeah. Anywho, also, from now on I'm going to reply to all anon. reviews for the previous chapter after the chapter I write, ok? Did that make sense? Anywho, even though I probably don't deserve them right now, if you reviewed that would make me really happy!**

**Anon. Review Reply:**

**inem: Right now! I'm really sorry for taking so long...I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll have the next one up soon!**

**Thanks for reading, everyone!**


	9. Chapter 9: Outside of the Library

**Disclaimer: I, Sora's Sacrifice, do not own **_**Kingdom Hearts**_** (none of em'!), or any of the characters or creatures in it. This is just a fanfic! That is all.**

**A/N: Okeydokey! Guess what! I wrote this whole chapter in ONE day! That's amazing for me! Ok, I am soooo sorry! I promised you guys a new chapter really soon, and I didn't post it! I did write it, actually, and I sent it to my beta fish but she still hasn't beta'd it (I talked to her about it today and she said that she never got it, so I dunno...). SO, I did try. But today I was thinking 'Ok, she still hasn't beta'd it and it sucks anyway. So why don't I just re-do it and then send it to her?' and so I did. And trust me, this is much better than the original thing. The original thing sucked and was very boring. So now you have a fairly good chapter! Or at least, I think so....I really hope you guys like it...sorry if there are any weird errors or anything.**

**P.S. I hate Kairi. And as for the teacher, I didn't want to choose who it was, so use your imagination and make it whoever you want!**

**Warning: Uhh....Riku cusses a little, but its nothing life-threatening, I assure you. And...something else happens, but you'll just have to wait and see what it is. :)**

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_Broken_

_Chapter 9: Outside of the Library_

"Ugh, school's a drag," Riku moaned, flopping down into the seat at his desk. Sora sighed disapprovingly and sat down at his own desk, which was in front of Riku's.

"You know, it's really not that bad. You just never pay attention so it's harder for you," Sora pointed out in a scolding tone, turning around so that he was facing Riku. Riku stared at him flatly for a second, and then opened his mouth, about to say something, when _they_ entered. Kairi, Selphie and Naminé. Kairi and Selphie were blabbering about something, while Naminé walked behind them quietly, looking awkward and out-of-place. Selphie, who was walking on the right side, the side further from Riku and Sora, seemed to notice them. Since she was ignoring Kairi, said girl, with a huff, turned to see what Selphie was staring at. Then she smirked.

"Well, well, well," she sneered in a mocking-tone, walking over to where Sora and Riku were sitting, "look who's back. Enjoy your vacation, boys?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Selphie followed suit and gave them a nasty, stuck-up expression.

"Get lost," Riku demanded in a dangerously dark voice.

"Aw, Riku doesn't want us around anymore. Too bad. Looks like his little boyfriend has taken our place," Kairi whined sinisterly.

"He's not my boyfriend," Riku replied, in the same dark voice he had been using before.

"Oh really? Did you get married recently? Or have you broken up?" the ultramarine-eyed girl asked mockingly, flicking back some of her maroon-brown hair.

"Cut it out, Kairi," Riku spat, obviously not taking kindly to her teasing.

"So, how does it feel, Sora?" Selphie asked, the same sinister tone in her voice that Kairi had. Sora loooked confused, but tried to remain looking as dangerous as Riku, though he could never pull it off.

"How does what feel?" Sora asked, furrowing his brows more.

"To be used and then thrown away?" Kairi answered for Selphie, smirking evilly.

"That's enough, Kairi!" Riku barked through gritted teeth, standing up now. He towered over Kairi like he was going to crush her at any second. No other students were in the room yet (they were early), so no one was there to witness what happened.

"Well, someone's aweful protective of his little toy," Kairi spat, glaring at Riku. Before Riku could say anything back, their teacher entered the class room. Kairi's expression suddenly turned helpless and scared, and Sora could have sworn he saw tears in her eyes. What was she doing...? "Don't hurt me, Riku!" Kairi pled, her voice little and weak. Riku looked as equally confused as Sora did. The teacher looked up at them and gasped.

"What is going on here?" the teacher demanded, a harsh expression on her face as she looked at Riku expectantly. So that's what Kairi was doing. It was an act, to fool the teacher and get Riku in trouble, no doubt. Riku and Kairi both looked at the teacher at the same time, and that's when Kairi let the tears flow. The teacher went over and seperated the two, giving Kairi a half-hug as Riku's angry expression was replaced slightly with a confused one. "What is going on here?" the teacher asked again, glaring at Riku.

"What? What do you--"

"Don't think I'm stupid, Riku," the teacher interrupted. "What were you doing to this poor girl?"

"I didn't do anythi--"

"Don't lie to me, Riku."

"But I--"

"What's wrong, sweetie?" the teacher asked Kairi, and Kairi wiped away the fake tears as more kept coming.

"I-I'm sorry....!" Kairi replied, cowering away from Riku. The teacher gave a quick glare to Riku and then looked at Kairi sympathetically.

"It's okay. What happened, dear?"

"I--I broke up with R-Riku a-and he got r-really m-mad...." Kairi stuttered, casting a scared glance at Riku, who now looked like he was gonna kill Kairi. The teacher was falling for the whole thing.

"Riku," the teacher started, glaring daggers at him.

"You believe her?" Riku asked in disbelief, balling his hands into fists.

"Yes, I do. What, you have a different story?" the teacher asked and waited.

"Yeah, I do. Kairi never broke up with me--we were never together--and I only got mad because she was being a bitch." 'As usual' Sora heard Riku add when the teacher gasped. When the teacher wasn't looking Kairi glared at Riku, but quickly put back on her acting face. Riku balled his hands into fists so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

"Riku! I will have no such language in my classroom!" the teacher scolded, overreacting, as usual. Riku rolled his eyes, not helping the cause. "Kairi, is that really what happened?" the teacher asked. Kairi shook her head.

"N-no," Kairi answered, shrinking into the teacher as Riku gave her a death-glance.

"Riku, go to the principle's office, now," the teacher demanded.

"But--"

"_**Now**_." Riku huffed, roughly grabbed his bag, and harshly pushed past Kairi and the teacher.

"Hey!" Sora protested, standing up. The teacher, Kairi, and Riku all looked at him. "That's not what happened! Riku's telling the truth!" Sora said, putting on his best serious face. The teacher looked at him for a moment, and then looked at Kairi.

"Sora, sit down. Don't get involved with this," the teacher ordered, frustrated.

"But it wasn't Riku's fault! He didn't do anything!" Sora tried to explain.

"**ENOUGH!**" the teacher shouted, and with a huff Sora sat back down, looking at Riku sorrowfully. Riku continued out the door and to the principle's office. The teacher finished comforting Kairi and went over to her desk while Kairi and Selphie sat down at their desks. Naminé sat down, too, and mouthed 'sorry' to Sora. The other students gradually entered the room, confused as to why there was such tension in the air. It must have bugged them all through the whole class, because no one could pay attention (except for Kairi, Selphie and the teacher).

After class Sora couldn't find Riku until about ten minutes later when he, Kairi, the teacher, and Selphie came out of the principle's office. Riku grumpily headed over to his locker, where Sora was waiting for him, and slammed it open. Sora waited a few moments and then spoke.

"So...what happened?" he asked cautiously. Riku slammed his locker shut, huffed and turned to fully face Sora.

"I got detention."

"What? You got detention?" Sora asked disbelievingly, raising both of his eyebrows. Riku nodded. "Oh, sorry."

"It's not your fault. Besides, I'm used to getting detention. What _really_ pisses me off is that stupid Kairi always gets away with everything and always tries to act all innocent!!" Riku spat, throwing his arms in the air for emphasis. He sighed and then smoothed out his face so it showed no expression, closed his eyes, took in a deep breath and let it out. Sora decided to change the subject.

"Wanna go eat lunch?" he asked. Riku nodded, eyes still closed, and once they began walking to the cafeteria he opened them. They tried to steer clear from Kairi and Selphie (and the teacher, as well...) and succeeded. Looked like Kairi and Selphie had had their share of causing trouble that day.

And so it was that school ended and Riku had to stay in detention. Sora offered to wait for him, but Riku rolled his eyes and told him to go home. Sora complied and left the school, headed for his temporary home.

Sora wasn't really sure what to do when he got back. So, he decided to see what was on TV. He watched for a little while, and then got bored and decided he was hungry, so he headed to the kitchen to make himself a sandwich. While he ate, he wondered when Riku was going to get back, and then, figuring that he would be hungry when he got back, prepared _him_ a sandwich. When he was done, he went up to his room and started to read his favorite book, _Beauty and the Beast_. As he read, he realized that the Beast and Riku had some likenesses. His mind started to wander and he pictured Riku as the Beast and himself as Belle. He stopped reading about half an hour later, deciding that he should get some homework done. He put down his book and headed back down the stairs and into the living room where he had left his book bag. That's when he realized he need some books from the library to do his homework. He sighed, picked up his bag, and then headed out the door; to the library.

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Riku stood up out of his seat as the teacher announced that detention was over and let all of the 'rotten' kids go back to their homes (or wherever it was they were going...). He swung his bag over his shoulder and exited the room, in a hurry to get out of the school. Detention had been extra long that day for some reason, and he hated staying at school longer than usual. It sucked.

On his way out, he remembered that he had to pick up some books from the library for school. Sighing, he turned and headed for the library, the one closest to his house. He didn't like going to the library, either. School and library: the most horrible places ever, in his opinion.

He was nearing the library when he saw a familiar head of chocolate brown spikes a few yards away, entering the library. He smiled, and just as he picked up his pace to get there quicker, some bummy looking guy with a gun came running down the sidewalk, shooting wildly at everyone he saw. Police cars were chasing him, telling him to stop and some running after him on the sidewalk, as well. He looked kind of familiar, but Riku couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Woman and children were screaming, dogs were barking, police were shouting and cars were crashing. And, of course, that one other thing: people were dying. There wasn't much time to react.

Riku saw one or two people who had been shot. Then, suddenly, he felt stinging pain in his right arm, then his left leg, and then three repetitive sharp pains in his chest. He fell to the ground, blood pouring out of his wounds.

Was this it? Was he going to die here? Right now? He sure the heck felt like it! Pain pierced him in his right arm, his left leg and especially in his chest like daggers. No, different from daggers, but still pain. He could feel warm liquid running out from his wounds, staining his clothes. He felt dizzy, like he could be pulled into unconsiousness at any second. Into eternal slumber. His heart felt weak, almost like it had been shot. Yes, shot, of course. Riku knew he had been shot, there was no other explanation. His heart beat slowed, and he could feel the blood draining out of his body. He could still hear screams of women and children around him, he could still hear the sirens, and he could hear people talking about him, asking each other if he was still alive or not. He could also see them, and wondered if they would help him or not. Then suddenly all the images he saw mixed together, all the sounds, all the voices. They all mixed so that he could not understand what was being said or done. He felt more dizzy by this time, and could have sworn he heard even more sirens than before.

As everything was mixing together, and he felt himself being pulled into everlasting darkness, a certain person popped into his head. He had a cheery smile on his tanned face, and chocolate-brown locks that were so spiky they looked like they could hurt you, but were really soft and unharmful. Nothing about this boy was harmful. No, he was in fact the nicest, sweetest, funniest, clumsiest, most sensative, skinniest, good-hearted, kindest, cutest little guy he had ever met. He wondered, as he slowly lost conciousness, if he would ever see him again. Then, everything was black, and there was only silence.

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Sora whistled happily as he entered the library, backpack in hand (or rather...well, on his back). He knew which books he had to get for school, so he searched the library and after finding about three of the ones he needed, he heard screams coming from outside and the sounds of a gunshot. He, and everyone else in the library, zoomed over to the library windows to witness what was happening. There was some laughing maniac running down the sidewalk--away from the several police who were chasing him-- shooting at people and...well, at everything, really. People screamed, fled, bled...quickly several people were calling an ambulance, and now they were waiting for them to come. More police came before the ambulance did, keeping people back from the bodies on the ground. That's when Sora noticed some familiar silver hair...no, it couldn't be...or could it? Sora rushed out of the library, down the stairs, and over to the body on the ground.

His eyes widened in realizational1 horror. It was him. Riku. Sora couldn't move for a few moments, his body wouldn't let him as it witnessed the scene before him. He wanted to rush over to Riku, to push through the crowd and police surrounding him, to be close to him. He knew it wouldn't do any good, but still.

He finally got control over his body and slowly started to walk forward, and then began running, pushing through the crowd, ignoring the police man when he said he couldn't go near him. He knelt down beside Riku, staring at him with disbelief. How could this have happened? Sora only then took real notice of the tears streaming down his face, wondering when he had started crying, but quickly pushing that thought away. The police either realized he knew Riku or something because they didn't try to get him away. Sora thought he might be shouting something, perhaps Riku's name, but he couldn't tell, and couldn't hear it. He couldn't hear anything. For the next few moments everything was completely silent in his ears.

Another thing Sora hadn't realized was that he was holding Riku's hand. He wasn't sure when he had done that, but he was glad he did. He never wanted to let go. Not ever again. If he had been with Riku, he could have--no, he probably couldn't have done much of anything. Although he might have been able to block the bullets so that they hit himself instead of Riku, but Riku might have been shot anyway.

The emotion that ran through Sora was unexplainable. He felt like part of him had been ripped out. Like what had filled up that empty space that he had felt for so long, living with his father, had been demolished. Like his heart had been broken, torn, destroyed all over again. Like all hope, all happiness, all meaning of life had been destroyed. Like his angel was gone, his savior had left him for the crows. Almost like it was his fault somehow, like he could have saved him. Riku didn't deserve to die, especially not after all he had done for Sora.

Ambulance sirens flashed and as Sora looked up, forcing his gaze away from Riku, he could see the ambulance trucks coming quickly. Out of the corner of his eyes, a few yards away, he saw the police catching the criminal. As they tried roughly to force him into the police car, almost as if he knew someone was looking at him, the fiend turned his head and looked at Sora. Sora's eyes widened to the point that he thought they were going to pop out. More tears ran down his cheeks, and another great wave of disbelief, dispair and anguish washed over him. It was his father. It was his cruel, hell-sent father.

He and Sora locked gazes, and his father smiled wickedly and crazily, as though he had lost his mind (Sora was pretty sure he had), and mouthed the words 'just for you, my son'. Sora could read his lips clearly. He could almost hear his father's dark, sinister voice saying those words to him in the cold, unwelcoming silence.

Sound came back to Sora's ears. Before he knew what was going on, he could feel Riku's hand being pulled away from his own. He looked up and saw the ambulance peoples2 lifting Riku's limp body onto a stretcher and into the ambulance truck. Sora hesitantly let go of Riku's hand so that they could get him into the truck and to a hospital quickly. Sora stood slowly, horror continuing to drown him in its dark depths. He watched as the ambulance trucks drove off quickly--but safely--down the street and to the hospital. The crowds slowly seperated, but Sora stood still. It was hard for him to move again, he was still slowly taking in what was happening.

Sora blinked for the first time in minutes and surfaced back to full conciousness. It was only then that he realized how late it was now. The sky was dark, there were no stars, no moon. Just black. There were some dark gray clouds here and there, as well. Sora could hear people sobbing, comforting, talking, whispering, gossiping. He could even hear Riku's name said a few times. How did they know Riku's name? Perhaps he really had been calling out his name before....

Sora focused and ran after the trucks that were some ways away now and followed them far behind to the hospital.

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**A/N: ....Please don't kill me. I feel bad about making this happen...but it's interesting, right? I mean, I know when I read a story I like it when my favorite characters get hurt or something (sometimes) because...well, you guys can understand that, can't you? Well...anyway. Isn't Kairi just wonderful? Making Riku get detention like that? If only she died first, then Riku wouldn't have had to suffer. Oh, and just to let you all know, Naminé never really joined in with Kairi and Selphie, she just stayed quiet and was never really brave enough to stand up for anyone or leave their little 'group' or anything. So don't be mean to her.**

**Oh, I was originally going to make Sora's favorite book **_**The Phantom of the Opera**_**, buuut...then I asked my beta fish what she thought his favorite book should be, and at first she agreed with me, but then she said **_**Beauty and the Beast**_**, so...yeah. Personally I think both of them are good choices. Oh, and whenever you get the chance, watch **_**Beauty and the Beast**_**, Walt Disney version, and imagine Riku as the beast and Sora as Belle. It's funny :)**

**Yeah...I know I made Riku cuss. But it was just a little...so, sue me (beta fish says yay for quoting movie-Misa!).**

**Ok, I think this is a long enough Author's Note, so I'll stop talking. I hope you liked it! Thanks for reading, and now please review! I'll give you any kind of KH plushie you want of any character! Oh, and many thanks to my beta fish and readers!**

**Anon. Review Replies:**

**inem: You're welcome! Thanks a lot, I'm really glad you liked it.**

**inem: Thanks! Yup, here it is!**

**For some reason I got two reviews from you on the same chapter so...yeah. I really hope I get one for this chapter! I really appreciate them!**

**(beta fish has something to say. 1,2 - i allow such things and use them in my stories as well so plahahaha.)**


	10. Chapter 10: Five Years Later

**Disclaimer: I, orgymoogle, do not own **_**Kingdom Hearts**_** (none of em'!) or any of the characters or creatures in it. Nor do I own its plots, storylines, or any of its other geniusness. I am merely an obsessed fangirl writing a fanfiction.**

**A/N: Ok...I wasn't expecting this to be the last chapter, but...the rest of the plot for this story was just kinda stupid, so...I decided to end it here. I'm sorry! And I'm also sorry this chapter is really short and probably sucks...my apologies!**

**P.S. The chapter is what the chapter name is.**

**Anon. Review Replies:**

**Veonora: Here ya go! Thanks for reading my story!**

**The tall guy: Thanks! I would, but I'm ending the story here. However, Sora and Namine did become friends, and I would have used your advice if I was continuing the story. Yeah, I don't see why guys can't like angst/drama stuff and not be called gay. I mean, we girls like it and we are considered 'normal'. People are just weird like that sometimes, I guess. Well, thank you for reading my story, and you rock! **

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_Broken_

_Chapter 10: Five Years Later_

"Okay. Well, I'll see you later, then," a young man around the age of twenty waved goodbye to a petite blonde-haired girl, grinning as she grinned back.

"Bye." She waved slightly before entering her small apartment, leaving the boy behind.

The young man stood, watching the door for a few moments before sighing contentedly and turning around to leave. It was dark, and he had to head back to his own apartment.

He walked rather slowly, taking in his surroundings. It was a peaceful night, the moon was almost full, the sky was a bit cloudy, there was a slight breeze, and you could hear crickets chirping. No one else really seemed to be out, or else they were just lurking in the shadows.

As the handsome young man walked, he accidentally passed a library...a certain library. _The_ library. He stared for a moment at the small brick building, the sign that informed passerbys that it was the library, the green grass surrounding the place full of books.

But then, his eyes wandered over to the distance, just a little beyond the library. They followed the sidewalk, and eventually came to the very spot that the man was standing. His eyes widened, and he froze.

Was there a reason this was happening now? Did the world want to remind him of all these painful memories? He tried to block them out, but found it was more difficult than he thought. Flashes of crimson liquid, sirens flashing, and a hand being pulled from his....

He shook his head, granting his memories leave, and once being able to feel his feet again began to walk. Walk away from that place. He began walking faster, feeling the tension in the air release, feeling his mind clear. As if just being in that place made him...lose it.

Finally, he reached his apartment and unlocked the door, feeling a rush of cool air hit him as he entered. The lights were off, so he imagined his roommate, Roxas, was already asleep. Closing the front door behind him, he felt his way to his room and opened the door.

He flipped on the lightswitch once in and entered, throwing his backpack onto his bed. He changed into some loose, light blue PJs and hopped onto his bed, ready for a goodnight's sleep. Turning on his alarm clock, glancing at a certain picture for a few moments and then kissing it goodnight, he turned off his light and went to sleep.

--

His eyes shot open abruptly, his breathing was heavy. He just sat there for a moment, and then slowly turned his head to the side. His eyes had adjusted to the dark, so he could see the picture pretty clearly. Taking his eyes away for a second, he glanced at his alarm clock. It read 3:04 AM. Looking back at the beloved picture, he sat up and reached out to take it. Once it was safely in his arms, he stared at it for about 15 minutes. He studied the two boys in the picture very closely, especially one in particular.

At around 3:30, he got up from his bed and changed into some clothes. Putting on a heavy coat, he left his room, then his apartment, and entered the freezing cold. He ignored the cold, and walked down the hard steps to the ground, where he safely planted his feet. He knew it was 3:00 AM, but he didn't really care.

He walked and walked, until he came across a place with many gravestones, and he entered. Hoping no one would think he was grave-robbing, he couldn't help but notice how the night had changed. It was now freezing cold, the clouds were darker and there were more of them--covering more light from the moon--the crickets were no longer chirping, the air was eerily still, and there was a slight mist forming on the ground.

He listened to his steady stepping, one foot in front of the other. He just couldn't get this off of his mind, it was even in his dreams! That's why he was here.

Finally, he stopped in front of a certain grave and stared at it for a moment. With a light, soft voice, he began to speak.

"H-hey, Riku..." he began, smiling a bit at the gravestone. "I'm sorry I haven't been here to see you this week...I've been pretty busy..." he paused. "Naminé's doing good...and so are Wakka and Tidus...Kairi and Selphie are nice now, too...." He gulped, and then continued, "I...I really miss you...." Tears began to form in his eyes, and he didn't feel the strength to stop them. "Every night I dream about you...in the dreams, we're both together again, at school, at your...at your old house...at the park...anywhere...sometimes we're even in that old forest...." He paused again, looking back on the old memory. "Do you remember, Riku? That time that you saved me...." Tears were now running down his cheeks. "And then, sometimes we're in my old house...and...." He took a long pause here, swallowing hard. "Sometimes......sometimes we're in...the hospital...." another pause. "I...miss you a lot...I miss crawling into bed with you when there was a storm...I miss you holding me when I cried...I miss you kissing my forehead and telling me that everything was going to be alright..." his voice broke, "I'm sorry, Riku..." he managed through choked sobs. "I'm still the crybaby that I used to be...." He didn't know how he got there, but he was suddenly on his hands and knees in the dirt at Riku's grave.

He cried for about half an hour, and then it began to rain, mixing the tears and rain together that now ran down his face. After about 20 more minutes, he calmed down, and just sat there in silence, a few silent tears still streaming down his cheeks.

The rain stayed falling at a medium pace, and the dirt Sora was in turned to mud. He didn't care, though.

In truth, he wasn't sure how he had survived these five years. After Riku had died--and by his cruel father, at that--Sora totally broke. He supposed he had moved on with the help of his other friends...Naminé, Wakka, Tidus...Kairi and Selphie, later. But...he felt--he _knew_ that part of him was still broken and would remain broken forever. Some scars were permanant....

Slowly lifting his head to look upon that cold gravestone with his sad, cerulean blue eyes, he couldn't help but think that maybe if he had never met Riku, none of this would've happened. If he hadn't met Riku, then Riku wouldn't have saved him from his father, and maybe then his father wouldn't have gone crazy, so Riku never would have....

But, even though Sora wished more than anything that Riku could be with him again, he was glad the gorgeous silver-haired teen had talked to him that fateful day at school. And, he felt like Riku was glad, too.

Pressing his forehead against the cold cobblestone grave, Sora whispered three simple but completely true and meaningful words.

"I love you."

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**A/N: ....I know, short and sucky. I'm sorry! Well, please don't hate me for killing Riku and giving you such a short last chapter...this is just how it came out.**

**Thanks to all for reading my story until the end, and reviewing. I hope the end was at least satisfying...and I just wanna say, I know some stories get like, thousands of reviews, but those are very rare, and you guys rock for giving me almost a hundred!! Thanks!!!**

**Thanks to my beta fish, **_**flurry of dying flames**_**, who has had to beta two short things in two days!! (beta fish says um, the horror zotto?)**

**Well, please leave commments and such...otherwise known as REVIEW PLEASE!!**

**All flames will be used for Axel's enjoyment!**

**P.S. Sorry for shortness!**

***END OF STORY***


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